To the editor:

A newspaper that favors laws that clamp down on free speech is no friend of the First Amendment. That’s what a Journal-World editorial did in supporting laws to make it illegal to demonstrate within 500 feet of a funeral.

The target of such laws is Fred Phelps, who demonstrates at funerals of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq. Phelps says God smites them to punish the United States for condoning homosexuality.

While I agree that Phelps’ message is “disgusting,” the Constitution prohibits government from banning messages that politicians don’t like.

A law that keeps demonstrators nearly two football fields away from the target of their expression is intended to censor the message. Such laws open the door for public officials to banish critics to where they can’t be heard. They could also stop striking workers from picketing a business or anti-war demonstrations at the Douglas County Courthouse.

The First Amendment protects all speech, even expression we find disgusting. Using law to silence Fred Phelps suggests that his message has power and that we fear it. In truth, people who see this man and his message learn that homophobia and racism are cut from the same ugly cloth. As one old adage put it, you never know what a skunk smells like until you get close to one.

Ted Frederickson,

Tonganoxie