Should protesters be allowed to protest at funerals?

older polls Forum

Starting to happen more and more. Protesters show up at the funeral of our fallen troops and/or homosexuals or Aids victims to protest the War, Gays, Aids deaths, whatever, etc.

Meanwhile the family has to bury their dead, while people are marching with signs like this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v460/Whidden/Whidden%202/funeralprotest.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v460/Whidden/Whidden%202/funeral_protest1.jpg

I voted "HELL NO!" It is tacky, and rude. People deserve the right to have closure, and these idiots are hurting people who are already in pain.

I understand freedom of speech and protest rights and all that stuff, but a funeral or a wedding is private time for families, who are already in a world of hurt.

What kind of weirdo goes to a funeral with signs like that, and hides behind lawyers? Go downtown and protest, or to the post office, or at the mall.

Weddings and Funerals should be respected as private functions, though they are held in public areas.

Unreal we have muslims killing soldiers and Christians portesting at the funeral, what a sad state of affairs.

These people are wrong they should levae the families to mourn and go protest somewhere else.

Don't know about the US but in the UK you could have them removed under breach of the peace laws, don't you have that in the US?

Yes, we have a "disturbing the peace" law here; but it only goes into effect after the peace has been disturbed (as it probably is there). I think people would like to have something in place to prevent a disturbances like this from happening in the first place.

People over here seem to miss the point regarding rights of all individuals. One person's right to free speech does not supersede another's right to privacy, nor vice versa. If one person want to protest and exercise their right to free speech, then do so at another venue other than at a family's funeral, where the family's right to privacy exists.

HELL NO! What a bunch of disrespectful a-holes! How could you do that?

HECK's official devil's advocate disclaimer: As we all know, this is America, and we are granted certain unalienable rights, one of them being free speech. Even though it is unpopular speech it has to be granted.

HECK's official: take on the subject: these people should be shot. They want to get religious? If they protested a funeral of someone close to me I would unleash the wrath Khan on their asses. How f'n dare they? It's ghastly that these ignorant, self-righteous jackals dare demean the lives of these people. I hope they all suffer miserably.

-HECK!

I find it to be close minded and embarassing more than anything. I don't think it's a restriction of first amendments rights if you have the police restrain them. They are breaking up a ceremony.

what if they are protesting the deaths of the deceased?

HELL NO!!! It's disgusting that people would actually do that at someone's funeral. You may not agree with them, but atleast have some respect for the families. Have they done anything personal to you, probably not. It's just rude and it makes me sick to my stomach that people would do that.

I voted no and HELL NO. No matter who it is, no matter what they've done, they're dead. Shut up. The person's not listening anymore, anyway.

well, if someone I know and like dies, I am going to protest their death.

Maybe if we get enough people, we can get their deaths revoked.

HELL NO! That is so tactless! What makes people who do that think that it is okay to be so disrespectful? Like Gaboman said, they are dead and can't hear or see your protests, so just shut up and leave the people at the funeral alone.

There are many other laws that may be being broken aside from protesting.

First there are two factors.
1. Public Cemetery (owned by the city/county/start/federal government) which amount to mostly cemeteries for veterans.
2. Private Cemetery (owned by Churches or family's)

In the case of a Public Cemetery - It would be a violation of there rights to assemble and freedom of speech to ban them.

In the case of Private Cemetery - You do not have that same right on Private Property.

However in both cases ones rights do not allow the rights of others to be violated. Also ones rights do not allow them to break the law. Like yelling bomb on an airplane or fire in a Church.

So their right to assemble, expression and free speech, do not allow them to break such laws as disrupting a funeral, or funeral procession. disturbing the peace. disrupting a Church service, trespassing, and possibly incite to riot (depending).