Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Westboro Baptist Church

 

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the First Amendment protects fundamentalist church members who mount attention-getting, anti-gay protests outside military funerals.

The court voted 8-1 in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan.

The decision upheld an appeals court ruling that threw out a $5 million judgment to the father of a dead Marine who sued church members after they picketed his son's funeral.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion for the court. Justice Samuel Alito dissented.

"What Westboro said, in the whole context of how and where it chose to say it, is entitled to 'special protection' under the First Amendment," Roberts wrote, "and that protection cannot be overcome by a jury finding that the picketing was outrageous." Matthew Synder died in Iraq in 2006 and his body was returned to the United States for burial. Members of the Westboro Baptist Church, who have picketed military funerals for several years, decided to protest outside the Westminster, Md., church where Snyder's funeral was to be held.

The Rev. Fred Phelps and other family members who make up most of the Westboro Baptist Church have picketed many military funerals in their quest to draw attention to their incendiary view that U.S. deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq are God's punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.

They showed up with their usual signs, including "Thank God for dead soldiers," "You're Going to Hell," "God Hates the USA/Thank God for 9/11," and one that combined the U.S. Marine Corps motto, Semper Fi, with a slur against gay men.

The church members drew counter-demonstrators, as well as media coverage and a heavy police presence to maintain order. The result was a spectacle that led to altering the route of the funeral procession.

Several weeks later, Albert Synder was surfing the Internet for tributes to his son from other soldiers and strangers when he came upon a poem on the church's website that attacked Matthew's parents for the way they brought up their son.

Soon after, Albert Snyder filed a lawsuit accusing the Phelpses of intentionally inflicting emotional distress. He won $11 million at trial, later reduced by a judge to $5 million.

The federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., threw out the verdict and said the Constitution shielded the church members from liability.

Forty-eight states, 42 U.S. senators and veterans groups sided with Snyder, asking the court to shield funerals from the Phelps family's "psychological terrorism."

While distancing themselves from the churches message, media organizations, including The Associated Press, urged the court to side with the Phelps family because of concerns that a victory for Snyder could erode speech rights. source

(WS) I'm sure that most of you reading this are very familiar with the scum of the earth who are the Westboro Baptist Church but I will give you a little reminder anyway.

 

The Westboro Baptist Church is not a “church”, it is a hate group. They are in it for the money and the press. Most of the members of this “church” are attorneys, so they get away with this. Any one can say they are a “church”, that is not going to make you a Church! This is not about freedom, it is about being human. There hate is a way for them to make money, by bringing a Lawsuit against people THEY have provoked. They are running a “church” scam. But, add a bit of crazy on the side just for show.

These people truly are the scourge of our society and a disgrace to this country. For some reason these parasites do not realize that every time they protest a military funeral they are protesting against someone who paid the ultimate sacrifice so they can enjoy the freedoms they are exercising.

Now that these parasites have had their day in court, I hope that the American people take over from here. Every time these parasites show up at a military funeral there should be 500 members of that community waiting for them to chase them away.

The old saying is true, there is strength in numbers. When Westboro sends people to protest these funerals they usually only have 5-10 members at their little protest. Now here is a video that was taken not far from my hometown and shows you exactly how to deal with these parasites. The protesters were only out of their car a very short time before they were overwhelmed by the massive crowd that was waiting for them and fled.
Now that's how you handle the Westboro Baptist Church!!