Local governments can legally regulate peaceful assembly by acting to curtail excessive noise, stop the blocking of pedestrian and automobile traffic, protect life and end destruction of property, writes Braden Goyette in ProPublica.
No matter how repugnant the viewpoint, the government is restricted from stopping its expression, a principle upheld recently by the U.S. Supreme Court in its decision to allow the Westboro Baptist Church to picket military funerals carrying anti-gay placards. -db
From a commentary in ProPublica, November 15, 2011, by Braden Goyette.