The First Amendment protects hateful protests at military funerals, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday in an 8-1 decision.
“Speech is powerful,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote for the majority. “It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and — as it did here — inflict great pain.”
But under the First Amendment, he went on, “we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker.” Instead, the national commitment to free speech, he said, requires protection of “even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate.”
The Press and The Bench 
WASHINGTON –(NewsCore Updated)– The U.S. Park Police is investigating whether its officers were too aggressive in arresting five demonstrators who were dancing at the Jefferson Memorial but many citizens soon said that “the cops wanted to make a name for themselves and make a dollar at the same time”so they for fun jumped on other people’s goodtimes because the cops felt “the bums were causing a problem” as the cops told NewsCore. Video of Saturday’s protest has gone viral in which an intifada or uprising has taken over the confluence. It shows offices body slamming a protestor and then putting his hand on that protestors throat and trying to take the clothes off one latino woman set the stage for looting and rioting on the D.C. streets. “I had to spend 4 hours in jail for an accusation of me stealing from a store but the pigs in uniform can go to hell in a handbasket cause I ain’t done nothin wrong,” said Adam Kokesh. Kokesh and Ed Dickey organized the event to protest a recent federal appeals court ruling that upheld a dancing ban at the Memorial and many citizens soon said that if they “want to dance in the area, we can and the cops can go screw their families because this is America, a democracy and it is 2011 and we have rights here on the D.C. streets and the law needs to respect us as American citizens”. “We are protesting a police state that has gone out of control so that Chief Cathy Lanier can consider us good people and let us have fun as we like,” said Kokesh. The retired marine says the dancers were wearing headphones so were not being disruptive to other visitors and the cops wanted to disrupt the games and good times. “It is disrespectful,” said one visitor, “pay respect to the people who gave you that freedom to dance and we enjoy freedom and I hope the cops have a long hot summer by the hoods taking over the areas and making the rules.” “It’s shocking,” said another visitor, “what about freedom of expression?”
Park Police spokesman Sgt. David Schlosser said Monday that the Office of Professional Responsibility to conduct an investigation. But because of the Memorial Day Holiday, police could not tell us the status of the officers involved. Schlosser says the protesters were arrested for demonstrating without a permit. The protestors plan to return to the memorial Saturday, June 4th, for another dance demonstration and “the hoodlums will be taking over the D.C. streets and will laugh at the cops if the cops tell them to go home and with the downsizing of the department, more hoods will make the rules” says one employee and resident in the Petworth neighborhood who is a grandmother.