Associate Dean Amar, Professor Brownstein Cited in Eighth Circuit Opinion
The case involved members of the Westboro Baptist Church, who assert that God punishes America with the deaths of its citizens for tolerating homosexuality, and who regularly protest near funerals of deceased U.S. military personnel bearing anti-gay, anti-American signs and placards. The city passed an ordinance restricting protests at funerals, which church members sued to overturn.
"Death, Grief, and Freedom of Speech: Does the First Amendment Permit Protection Against the Harassment and Commandeering of Funeral Mourners?", an article by Amar and Brownstein that was published in the Cardozo Law Review in 2010, is cited by the Eighth Circuit en banc opinion in supporting the idea that mourners can be protected by well-written legislation because mourners are "captive to their overwhelming human need to memorialize and grieve for their dead" and thus may subject to special protections.