Supreme Court is Consistent Anyway

The lead story in today’s New York Times, “Justices Uphold Hateful Protest as Free Speech,” shows how much the Supreme Court values the First Amendment; so much that they are willing to go against their core beliefs to uphold it.

As has been much publicized, the Supreme Court consists of five conservative and four liberal justices, or four-to-four with Justice Kennedy in the middle, based largely on whether they were selected by a Democratic or Republican President. Yet yesterday’s surprising 8-1 ruling showed a rare unanimity on a very controversial issue.

The case concerned protests at a military funeral by a fringe Church who believes that the United States is “doomed” because of its tolerance of homosexuals. Their demonstration upset the father of the marine being buried, who just wanted to say goodbye to his son in peace, and whose grief was aggravated by the protesters.

Yet the Court ruled that the protesters were justified by the First Amendment for two reasons. First, the protest was based on a matter of public policy — the most protected area of all First Amendment rights — and second, the protesters were obeying the law, demonstrating in a peaceful manner in an unrestricted area.

While this ruling upset the father very much — on the CBS Evening News he said the justices had a lot of book knowledge but had the “common sense of a goat” — it is consistent with another unpopular ruling in Citizens United, allowing unlimited campaign contributions by corporations to protect their free speech. Democrats and Republicans will probably fall on opposite sides of these two rulings, but at least the Supreme Court is consistent.