Friday, September 24, 2010

War Protesters, Supreme Court, and The First Amendment .

In June of this year the U.S. Supreme Court decided a case that many people in Minnesota may know nothing about.  At the core of the case is what is "material support to terrorism" and does it affect the First Amendment rights of U. S. citizens.  The events that happened today in Minneapolis by the FBI raid may be a catalyst for us to find out. The FBI searched the homes of individuals for evidence of material support to terrorism.

The Court decided by 6-3 vote that it is not a violation of First Amendment rights to arrest and convict people of giving certain kinds of material support to terrorists. The Court upheld the part of federal statute that was in question.  The case is Holder v  Humanitarian Law.

To take a little liberty with the last couple of sentences in the dissent of the case,  it should be asked,  Are these people in Minneapolis being deprived of the protection that the First Amendment demands?

No comments:

Post a Comment