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If you’ve ever wondered about how consistent our legal system is in this country, look no further than two very recent cases of freedom of speech. In one corner, a group protests the funeral of a soldier with signs that read “God hates fags”, in the other corner, a group protests outside a bank that finances mountain top removal mining in West Virginia.
Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder died in Iraq in 2006, and Fred Phelps’ Westboro Church protested the funeral with hateful signs. Matt’s father has started a civil lawsuit against the church in order to prevent this sort of behavior in the future. But as of now, the church is allowed to show up on public property and yell awful things at grieving families.
Reverend Billy of the Church of Life After Shopping was recently arrested at a Chase bank in New York City for placing toxic soil from a West Virginia strip-mining site financed by JP Morgan Chase. Rather than arresting Chase executives for this crime against the planet (and the employees), the New York City police arrested the good reverend and released him after two hours with no charges.
Now I realize these two instances cannot be compared at all from a legal standpoint. One is a civil suit regarding an action on public property, the other a simple arrest on private property. My point is that is seems as though it is easier to protest the death of a soldier than it is to protest corporations.
CEOs can hide in their private homes, private offices, private restaurants, private jets, and private helicopters without ever stepping on public ground. They can hobnob with politicians, captains of industry, and media executives with few public confrontations that may force them to evaluate their detriment to the community and planet. Yet a private citizen who has just lost their child overseas must put up with protests.
We need a shift in our nation’s values and priorities in the justice system. If a giant business wants to wreak havoc on our ecosystems, political processes, health care, foreign policy, and so on, we should revoke their protections as a private business because they have entered the public domain. People should be able to protest on their property, leave toxic soil that they are responsible for, and crash meetings if they want to. If they want the power of a Congressperson, they should have to be considered a public figure in the same way.
Now watch Glenn Beck try to figure out how to handle Reverend Billy:
