WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the right of small-but-loud Westboro Baptist Church to demonstrate provocatively near military funerals.
In a free-speech ruling that challenges popular opinion, the court ruled that the First Amendment protects even deliberately obnoxious funeral protests. The justices stressed that the court’s 8-1 ruling was no endorsement of the church’s infamous “God hates fags” message.
“Given that Westboro’s speech was at a public place on a matter of public concern, that speech is entitled to special protection under the First Amendment,” Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. wrote for the majority.
The court’s decision in Snyder v. Phelps shields the Kansas-based Westboro church from being sued for intentional infliction of emotional distress. More broadly, the decision casts into doubt dozens of state laws that were erected to keep demonstrators away from funerals.
The ruling is precisely the kind that few elected officials would dare to make. Forty-two senators, including the respective leaders of the Democrats and Republicans, as well as the attorneys general in 48 states, had urged the court to oppose the church.
“Westboro’s funeral picketing is certainly hurtful and its contribution to public discourse may be negligible,” Roberts acknowledged in his 15-page majority opinion. “But Westboro addressed matters of public import on public property, in a peaceful manner.”
Justice Samuel Alito dissented, saying free speech shouldn’t be “a license for the vicious verbal assault that occurred in this case.”
In 2007, a Pennsylvania jury had slapped Westboro with a $10.9 million judgment for its demonstration at the March 2006 funeral of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder. Snyder had died in Iraq’s Anbar province.
The church members didn’t know Snyder or his father, Albert, but seven of them traveled from Kansas to Maryland to demonstrate. They stood outside the Roman Catholic church where the services were held, holdings signs with messages such as “Thank God for Dead Soldiers,” “God Hates Fags” and “You’re Going to Hell.” One sign depicted two men engaged in anal intercourse.
Albert Snyder didn’t see the signs until a television news account later that night. He also found on the Internet a church-penned “epic” denouncing his son. During the subsequent trial, he testified tearfully that Westboro’s protest signs had caused him endless anguish and “tarnished the memory of my son’s last hour on earth.”
“Simply put, the church members had the right to be where they were,” Roberts wrote.
Westboro Baptist Church members, who largely belong to the extended Phelps family, maintain that the 9/11 terrorist attacks and what followed reflect God’s wrath on the United States.
“They also believe God led the nation into wars as further punishment, and that the soldiers are dying because of America’s sin and proud refusal to repent, mourn for its sins and obey God,” explained attorney Margie J. Phelps, daughter of church founder Fred W. Phelps Sr.
“Westboro believes that America is flawed,” Roberts wrote. “Many Americans might feel the same about Westboro.”
Margie Phelps delivered the oral argument on the church’s behalf last year, impressing seasoned court observers with her command of the facts and the law.
The court’s decision wasn’t unexpected.
Incited primarily by the church’s picketing, more than 40 states — including Kansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Texas and Washington — have enacted funeral protest laws. The states argue that funerals represent a “unique and sacred” moment that warrants government protection from intrusive speech.
The state laws differ, as do their potential future viability. Kansas, for instance, prohibits any “public demonstration” within 150 feet of the entrance to a funeral service. Florida prohibits disturbing military funerals specifically, while Kentucky prohibits impeding access to funerals in general.
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