The liberty of America has created a place for some terrible hate groups to emerge.  From the KKK to the Weather Underground hate goes hand in hand with a faced of arrogance.  In truth haters feel so pathetic they can only "raise" how they see themselves by knocking down others.

In some cases involving the KKK the Constitution has protected hate speech made in a public venue.  In these cases it has been ruled that the community must tolerate the hate speech in the form of parades and protests.  Protecting the rights of even the vile in our communities is one of the things that makes America great.  Just north of us in Canada, people are arrested just for saying things that others consider hateful.  Free speech is under full attack above the 49th parallel.

But down here we need to be diligent in protecting the rights of free expression above the rights of the community to squelch it for comfort.

Too many people including, Glenn Beck, have mistaken what the monsters of the Westboro Hate Cult as a public protest.  If this was about the community preventing these hateful monsters from expressing their revolting views the Constitution wins the the community must tolerate this.  To do otherwise is to put the First Amendment in jeopardy.

However, these protests are not located to protest a public institution or public entity.  They are not even located to optimize visibility to the public as a parade or protest down "main street" would.  What this hate cult does is designed with the intent of targeting for maximum emotional damage.

These people pick an emotional event where they can inflict maximum pain and create a contrived feeling of power.  This is the key, their message is not about about changing public policy directed at those with the power to change it.  If you search for their website, look at the URL they have chosen.  This message is a personal attack of hate.  When they show up at funeral their hate becomes an attack on vulnerable people meant only to create a perverted power structure where the mourning families are meant to feel powerless. They are parasites feeding on the pain of others to create a feeling of personal empowerment what they are too weak and stupid to do for themselves.

This is not what the First Amendment was designed to protect.  It was meant to protect expression from censorship by government and by extension the community.  It never was intended to protect intentional infliction of harm on another.  This is where we have long had exceptions.  Slander and liable are not protected forms of speech, because they are designed to do harm.  They are sometimes protected when the target has by choice become a public figure.  These families are not mourning by choice. And it is this emotion of mourning that is targeted.

What this hate cult does has the same intent as a cross burning.  The Supreme Court has already ruled just seven years ago in Virginia v. Black that laws meant to prevent intimidation are constitutional.  In this case it is not a law, but the outcome of a civil suit.  The result of the suit was overturned on the assumption that this hate speech is protected. However the intent is the same, to intimidate and feed perverted needs by seeking out the most emotionally vulnerable in our communities, those mourning the loss of a loved one.

If this cult of hate wants to express their vile opinions within the bounds of the constitution, they should be required do it where those in mourning are not forced to see it.  That means away from the ceremonies and away from any routes required to arrive at and leave the cerimonies.  As long as the family can mourn and return home by at least one route without being the victim of these vile attacks, the rights of the vile to be vile in public should then be protected.

In this case the family was not protected they won a case, but a disconnected appeals court failed to understand the nature of this hate and reversed the will of a jury.  It is my hope that Supreme Court will realize this is not about protecting the speech of the Westboro haters who have nearly unlimited options to express their views, it is about protecting the vulnerable in a time of mourning.