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Snyder Vs. Phelps

In an 8-1 decision the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Phelps, upholding the Fourth Circuit's decision, siding with Phelps.

The historical significance of the case holds that groups have the right to protest nearly wherever they want to.

This case set the precedent for many of the Ku Klux Klan rallies during the civil rights movement

Westboro Baptist Church Overview and Background

Westboro Baptist Church is a church situated in Topeka, Kansas. Founded in 1955 it currently boasts almost 71 members, all of them related by blood, marriage or in some cases Im assuming both. It is known nationwide for its harsh anti-homosexuality doctrine, picketing of funerals, and belief that God is responsible for killing various peoples around the world because the US and other countries accept and allow gays to live.

Westboro gained the national spotlight in 1998 when they picketed the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a Wyoming man that was tortured and killed because of his sexual orientation. Since that day Pastor Fred Phelps and his church have pickted the funerals of Micheal Jackson after his death in 2009, heavy metal legend Ronnie James Dio and most recently in 2011 they made plans to protest at the memorial funeral service of nine-year old Christina Green who was killed in the Tucson shooting. They were only stopped because of the emergency legislation passed by Arizona State Legislature to prohibit protests within 300 feet of a funeral. Over the course of these protests and picket lines Westboro by its own estimate has spent $250,000 a year on nearly 30,000 different pickets in 500 towns and cities across 50 states.

Westboro Baptist Church has also displays hatred for Jews, Muslims, any church that does'nt condemn homosexuality and the Chinese, saying that they thank god for the 2008 Sichuan earthquake that killed 68,000 and prayed for "many more earthquakes to kill many more thousands of impudent and ungrateful Chinese".

My name is Karl

Constitutional Issue

The court case is a first amendment issue (freedom of expression)

U.S Marine Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder was killed in a non-combat related incident in Iraq March 3rd 2006. He said he took the detail the day that it killed him because "im a Marine and thats what I do when something needs to be done"

Decision

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church. The Court ruled that the actual picketing did not interfere with the funeral procedings because the picketers were far enough away that only the tops of their signs could be seen

My name is AJ

Decision

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church. The Court ruled that the actual picketing did not interfere with the funeral procedings because the picketers were far enough away that only the tops of their signs could be seen

BIG

My name is Dane

Incident and Trial Court

Matthew's funeral was picketed by members of the Westboro Baptist Church on March 6th, 2006 in Westminster, Maryland. Matt's father Albert was made aware of the protesters and sued the church saying that the content of their protest made him physically sick and caused deep rooted emotional distress. The trial court ruled that freedom of speech had limits that do not extend to shocking or extreme speech. Snyder was awarded $10.9 million in total damages however WBC opened an appeal based on the prejudiciary statements of the judge and violations of the gag order by Snyder's attorney.

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