Protests By Small Church at Funerals Upheld

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against a York County man who sued a Kansas-based fundamentalist church for carrying out anti-gay protests at his Marine son's funeral.
By an 8-1 margin, the nation's highest court sided with the Westboro Baptist Church -- saying the First Amendment protects the protests. That church group sees the deaths of U.S. soldiers as punishment for the acceptance of homosexuality.
Albert Snyder had filed suit against the church after members picketed his son Matthew's funeral in 2006.
The Supreme Court took up the case after an appeals court tossed out a five-million dollar judgment to the Spring Garden Township man.
One of Snyder's lawyer, Craig Trebilcock says the justices have expanded the definition of First Amendment protection...

"One significant thing in this case today is, based on the court's opinion under the First Amendment, even if you inflict physical harm on another person, it may be First Amendment protected as a defense. And that is significant declaration by this court.

Trebilcock says Snyder's experienced clinical depression as a result of the church's continued harassment by the church online. Trebilcock says his client is now concerned about future protests...

"He recognizes we're still at war, we're still sending our sons and daughters to Iraq and Afghanistan, and some of 'em don't come home. And that now the Westboro Baptist Church is just completely unrestrained from a campaign of abusing the families of these heroes when they fall and that's his focus today."

Nonprofit: Don't Allow Electronic Billboards in Pgh.

A national group against billboards has come to Pittsburgh to advocate a ban on electronic billboards in the city, about a week before City Planning Commission takes up a measure to regulate the signs.

The nonprofit Scenic America argues electronic billboards are intrusive to landscapes and dangerous to drivers, as well as harmful to property values. Executive Director Mary Tracy says each digital sign also uses the same amount of electricity as about 30 houses.

Tracy says the billboards simply aren’t worth the problems they bring up.

“ You have traffic safety issues, you have environmental issues, you have aesthetic issues, and you have to kind of look at it and say, ‘What are we really gaining here?’” says Tracy.

Tracy says the advertising industry often argues this is a free speech matter, but she says it’s not. She argues that because the signs can be dangerous to drivers and lower property values, they should be open to regulation. Tracy says four states and more than 1,000 municipalities have already forbidden the billboards.

The Scenic America leader says the proliferation of electronic billboards is an example of political lobbying trumping the public interest.

The Planning Commission will look at an ordinance regulating the size, brightness and placement of the billboards next Tuesday.

Scenic America is holding a public meeting on the issue at two o'clock today, at the Conservation Consultants, Inc. Center on 14th Street in the South Side.

Pittsburgh Celebrates Banned Books Week

Pittsburghers will celebrate National Banned Books Week in Oakland Monday night with an event featuring readings and a sing-along of banned books and songs.

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh spokeswoman Suzanne Thinnes says the “FREADom” program salutes the hundreds of books that are banned or challenged each year.

While a ban occurs when a library forbids a book, a challenge happens when someone writes a letter of complaint requesting a library remove a book. Thinnes says a book could be challenged for a variety of reasons.

“Some people don’t think it’s appropriate due to religious reasons or that it’s not considered family-friendly. It might have what they consider violence or be of a sexually explicit nature, or contain offensive language.”

Thinnes says there were 460 challenges to books across America last year. Among the top ten most common challenges were Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” and J.D. Salinger’s “Catcher in the Rye.”

Local acts like the Amish Monkeys, the Highway Puppet Theater, and Temujin the Storyteller will read from their favorite banned or challenged works.

The local American Civil Liberties Union is also asking attendees to email banned song ideas for the sing-along.

The celebration is free and open to the public at the Frick Fine Arts Building Auditorium at 7:00 Monday night.

Permits No Longer Required for Expression in Parks

Pennsylvania’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) has suspended a rule requiring individuals to have permits before the “expression of views” or distribution of literature in state parks.

The suspension was in response to a request from the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania (ACLU), which recently received several complaints on the subject.

ACLU Legal Director Vic Walczak says over the past two weeks, DCNR rangers stopped two Green Party candidates for U.S. Congress from getting petition signatures in Point State Park. He says rangers prevented another man from making balloon art.

Point State Park is the only park in which this is an issue; Walczak says that’s because almost nobody passes out literature in rural parks.

Walczak says the ACLU had been dealing with the Pittsburgh Police on this issue, but when DCNR informed them of the regulation they asked them to stop requiring permits.

“It makes sense to do for a large demonstration that may result in blocking traffic. Then, yes, you can have a permit system, but you can’t have it for what the courts often call ‘the lone pamphleteer.’”

Although the law hasn’t been formally repealed yet, DCNR has stopped enforcing it.

Disorder in the Court

Yesterday, two different federal appellate court panels issued conflicting rulings on school officials' right to discipline students for Internet postings made from home.

The cases are very similar, but the rulings are just the opposite, according to ACLU Legal Director Vic Walczak, who represents both students. Each student put mocking and sexually explicit material on the Internet with reference to a principal.

In the case from Mercer County, the appellate court upheld a lower court ruling that the school cannot limit a student's speech outside school. A different 3-judge panel upheld a student's suspension in Schuykill County.

Walczak says it's reasonable to restrict speech at school but not to limit a student's right to free speech outside school, where it's the parents' right to decide whether a child's behavior is appropriate or not.

Either side may seek further legal review.

Tweeting Allowed at Bonusgate Trial

Reporters covering the trial of former Democratic House Whip Mike Veon and three other “Bonusgate” defendants will be free to tweet to their thumbs’ content.
A Harrisburg judge had denied a motion to ban Twitter from the courtroom in the upcoming legislative corruption trial.
Defense lawyers wanted to ban reporters from sending out tweets from the courtroom during the trial.
They argued potential witnesses could break media embargoes by reading the 140-character messages. Dauphin County President Judge Richard Lewis has denied the request, saying it would violate the First Amendment.
Gene Policinski, executive director of the First Amendment Center in Nashville, says the decision ventures into uncharted territory.

"The issue of using Twitter from courtrooms is relatively new for the courts, both at the federal and state level, to deal with. There have been a couple of rulings in federal courts early on. One banning Twitters by spectators, the other permitting a reporter to Twitter from a trial. There’s really no settled law on this."

Vic Walczak, the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania’s legal director, approves of the ruling.

"It seems like a sensible and a reasonable accommodation to 21st century technology. It’s not something that should disrupt the trial in any way, and yet promotes the reporter’s ability to get timely information out about what’s going on, which informs the public. So I think all of this makes good sense."

Walczak says Pennsylvania courts’ ban on cameras doesn’t apply to whether or not reporters can tweet.
Potential witnesses will be ordered to avoid Twitter messages about the trial in the 24 hours before they’re due to testify. Opening arguments are scheduled for February 1.