Funeral Picketing Laws and Free Speech

This Article addresses funeral picketing legislation enacted by state legislatures and Congress in response to the activities of the Westboro Baptist Church. The article provides an overview of the federal and state laws, and then addresses constitutional questions that these laws raise. The article concludes that some time, place and manner regulations likely will pass constitutional muster, but that measures which fully satisfy outraged lawmakers and the general public may not withstand constitutional scrutiny, while laws that satisfy the First Amendment are unlikely to fully appease the general public. That result, however, is neither new nor unusual, and the Supreme Court generally has been zealous in its protection of the free speech rights of all citizens, reflecting a longstanding and deeply held American commitment to free speech as a cornerstone principle of our society.