Quote Originally Posted by jmm99 View Post
Note that this case has turned into a freedom of religion and assembly (Snyder) vs freedom of speech case (Phelps) case (issue 2). Application of Hustler v Falwell to this situation seems questionable to this armchair observer.

The purpose of Hill and its progeny was to make it more difficult for a public, political figure to sue for defamation and thereby silence political dissent vs that public figure. The Snyder-Phelps 4th CA decision turns that on its head since Snyder is indeed a private figure and Phelps is a public figure.

When lawyers and judges lose sight of the purpose underlying a rule, the rule will be applied blindly and even insanely. One of my law school profs called that "trained indifference" - adherence to the presumed letter of a doctrine without consideration of the doctrine's underlying rationale and its application to the particular circumstances of the case at hand.

Regards

Mike
Seems that you wrapped it up pretty well. I see the logic of this juridical process and can only shake my head in disbelief.

That little that I gathered about this public figure Phelps stopped my small research short and left me wondering how this status can be attained by such a person. Words fail me as bigot and hypocrite sound far too weak.


Regards

Firn