The SCT granted cert yesterday in Snyder v. Phelps, to determine whether a $5 million verdict should be reinstated against members of the Westboro Baptist Church. Phelps is the Kansas preacher who targets the funerals of dead soldiers to protest what he believes is America's endorsement of homosexuality. Snyder is the father of one of those soldiers, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq and buried on March, 10, 2006.
Phelps showed up at Matthew's funeral carrying signs like: "Semper fi fags," "God hates fags," and "Thank God for dead soldier." Snyder didn't see the signs that day, but he did see the news footage later on. A few days after that, Snyder googled Matthew's name and came up with a link to Phelp's church, godhatesfags.com. Turns out that Phelps had produced a video "epic" about Matthew and the parents who "raised him for the devil," that Phelps used to draw like-minded folks to the church.
As a direct result of Phelp's activities over the years, more than 40 states have enacted measures to limit the scope of funeral protests. This case does not challenge those laws directly, but instead involves a potential conflict between the First Amendment and the application of state tort laws. The SCT will have to determine what a private individual must prove in order to succeed on an emotional distress claim when the injury arises from offensive speech. In Hustler v. Falwell, the Court held that that a public figure cannot recover damages for emotional distress unless the defendant communicated a false statement of fact with "actual malice." This case will answer whether that same standard applies when speech is directed at a private individual.
Also in question is whether Phelps's free speech rights trump the rights to freedom of religion and peaceful assembly that come into play when grieving parents bury their son.
-Kathleen Bergin
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