Bobby Jindal on Westboro Baptist Church: We will lock them up

[TexasTowelie]

Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune

Gov. Bobby Jindal has threatened to arrest Westboro Baptist Church members if they picket the funerals of the Lafayette theater shooting victims.

"Let me be very clear. If they come here to Louisiana, if they try to disrupt those funerals, we're going to lock them up. We're going to arrest them," Jindal said during an interview on "Face The Nation," the CBS Sunday morning political talk show.

Jindal made those comments despite the U.S. Supreme Court having affirmed the group's right to protest such events.

Louisiana law prevents protesters from interfering at funerals. The demonstration must stay 300 to 500 feet away from funeral proceedings for two hours prior to the event until two hours after it concludes. They are also not allowed to block or interfere with a funeral route. Jindal issued an executive order Saturday indicating he plans to enforce this law should the Westboro Baptist Church come to Louisiana.

Read more: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/07/bobby_jindal_on_westboro_bapti.html#incart_most-read_

[JI7]

1. what if they had said they were going to picket funerals of some gay person(s) ?

[RKP5637]

11. Yep, then he would be out in front leading the charge with his bigotry. He is

clearly an example of one unfit to serve.

[surrealAmerican]

19. ... or a Planned Parenthood clinic?

Is there a history of arresting obnoxious protesters he agrees with in his state?

[silvershadow]

2. In this case, I rather agree with Jindal, as unlikely as that is. SCOTUS erred on that

front as well, which I had forgotten about. A grieving family and community's peace and dignity trump any right to picket. Especially when what you are picketing has not a single connection to the families/communities involved, imho.

[cstanleytech]

25. No scotus did not err on that ruling, to rule against them would have put other peoples speech

at risk that the government wanted to silence.
That doesnt mean the westboro people are not complete assholes for doing what they are doing but being an asshole isnt a crime you can be arrested for, if it was most of the Republicans in the Senate and House would in jail right now.

[jtuck004]

3. Just piss on that First Amendment. Not like you have any respect for the rest of it, Adolph. n/t

[oldandhappy]

4. This ought to be good for a 1 point jump in the polls.

Sort of hope he does it, lock 'em up I mean.

[Sam_Fields]

5. Jindal's elevator doesn't go all the way to the top.

[LynneSin]

18. Sorry in this case I highly doubt Jindal's elevator is even in order

I think in this case you might have to take the stairwells.

And welcome to DU

[geomon666]

6. Bobby Jindal is such a piece of shit.

He's actually going to make me defend the fucking Westboro Baptist Church animals.

[bluestateguy]

7. Um yeah, you can't do that.

Snyder v. Phelps (2011).

We're done here.

[davidpdx]

8. Jindal is an idiot

I don't agree with Westboro, but publicly stating you are going to suppress someone's 1st amendment rights is idiotic. There are plenty of other ways to stop Westboro with out resorting to that type of tactic. People have banded together at times to form a human shield between themselves and the place a funeral has taken place in the past. I'd rather see a counter protest to put Westboro in their place then Jindal threatening to arrest them. That's playing right into their hand which means more lawsuits.

[TexasTowelie]

9. But Louisiana has plenty of money to defend lawsuits.

[LynneSin]

17. WBC is hoping that an idiot like Jindal will do exactly that - toss them in jail

Last edited Mon Jul 27, 2015, 11:04 AM - Edit history (1)

This organization loves to litigate and would love nothing more than a chance to take Jindal and the state to court.

If Jindal is smart he'll find some corner far away from the funeral to let WBC have their 30 minutes of embarassment. About 1000 counterprotestors will show up to ensure that no one will really see WBC and then WBC will crawl back down in to the dungy rat hole they came from.

[BeanMusical]

23. +1

They would be in the spotlight, which they love, and would present themselves as martyrs. Yuck.

[davidpdx]

36. Yeah I've read the stories about that

They are grifters using their bad behavior to try to get the reaction they want so they can sue.

[jwirr]

22. Totally agree. Not only is he attacking the 1st Amendment but he is opening his state to a huge

lawsuit that will eventually funnel money into the very "church" he wants to stop.

My first reaction was to laugh and say "prosecuting Christian" anyone?

[gordianot]

10. This may win the daily contest of stupidist Republican.

Jindal so wants a right wing bump in the polls, Westboro Baptist Church so wants a Court case, a match made for each party. Throw in a few knuckle dragger confederate battle flag morons would round this off. Donald Trump could be primed to make an offensive comment.
Meanwhile a family has to bury a member who died in a senseless act of violence in a State with a senseless Governor who has preemptively invited a senseless protest.

[radiclib]

12. Here is how you deal with these people

With Moore free speech.

[Brother Buzz]

29. Here's how West Coast high school kids do it

[Jamastiene]

13. If the law is already on the books there, why does he need to issue an executive

order to enforce a law already on the books?

[Bossy Monkey]

14. Only Bobby Jindal could manage to be wrong the one time that he's right.

Freedom of speech is freedom of speech. Arresting a bunch of lawyers is just a way to assure that your law against interfering with funerals gets thrown out. Westboro protests tend to get taken care of by people of good will standing in front of them. Decry them and otherwise ignore them, Bobby. Kind of like Cousin Oliver.

[brooklynite]

15. Sorry Bobby -- religious freedom doesn't mean only for YOUR type of religion...

[LynneSin]

16. Why? Their message absolutely disgusts me but that doesn't mean they should be locked-up

Westboro Baptist has a constitutional right to make assholes of themselves. Just because 99% of the country does not like the message they have to offer means they should be behind bars. If Bobby Jindal feels he doesn't like the message of Westboro Baptist then what other messages will he not like and decide to lock up those people.

I was honored to stand with the people who protested against Westboro Baptist when they showed up at the Biden Funderal here in Wilmington Delaware. But Bobby Jindal locked them up for their message I would stand in protest against Bobby Jindal not because I support Westboro Baptist but because I would want to protect everyone's right to Freedom of Speech. It's a slipperly slope when someone starts locking people up for First Amendment Rights violation.

And I will say this much, WBC will stay within the boundaries of the law. When they came to Delaware they were told they could stand along Dupont & Pennsylvania Avenue which was 3-4 blocks north of the Church where the Biden funeral was being held. For people who do not know the area it looked like WBC was protesting a Cadillac dealership and not a funeral. They were nowhere near the church or those waiting in line to enter the church. It sounds like they have the same setup in Louisinana.

[Chipper Chat]

20. Serious question from a Yankee:

How did this man get elected Governor?

[BeanMusical]

24. It's a mystery to me also.

[yardwork]

32. I would like to know as well, and I live in the south.

[The CCC]

21. Bobby Jindal on Westboro Baptist Church: We will lock them up

The WBC is about as worthless an organization as they come, but they have the right to protest whatever they want.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

26. Jindal, being a nitwit, will play right into their hands.

WBC lives and thrives on litigation. They are deliberately provocative in order to have an excuse to sue. If Jindal locks them up he will have a big fat lawsuit on his hands. WBC is reprehensible, but they have First Amendment protection and they push it as far as they can.

[L0oniX]

27. Everyone should picket WBC every fucking day all fucking day long.

Want a laugh ...type "fuck this guy" in Google.

[markbark]

28. Hmmm... Here's a suggestion:

Direct them to an abandoned parking lot a few miles away from the funerals.
Call it a "1st Amendment Zone"

Hey, if it worked for Dubya...

[tblue37]

30. Thanks to his destruction of the Louisiana budget, that state cannot

Last edited Wed Sep 23, 2015, 02:03 AM - Edit history (1)

afford the lawsuits the Phelpses will file. The reason Fred had his kids become lawyers is that suing people whose buttons they press enough to goad them into doing something that even slightly crosses the line is a (perhaps THE) major source of their funding.

The LA taxpayers will have to pay again for this fool's grandstanding.

[douggg]

31. Bobby J wants to deny religious freedom

to his fellow Christians.

That makes a nice precedent.

[Big Vincenz]

33. oh, governor piyush

how you do go on

[olddots]

34. Oh Bobby you're soooooooooooooooo butch !

[Ruby the Liberal]

35. Unfortunately, it would have been better to ignore them

They live for the publicity and the lawsuits. With SCOTUS already ruling in their 1st amendment favor, all that will happen is that they will show up and then the taxpayers of LA will fund their activities for the next decade.