Topeka, USA - The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in Snyder v. Phelps that the First Amendment protects Westboro Baptist Church's right to use hurtful speech in protests about public issues.
Westboro, a Kansas-based congregation perhaps best known for protesting military funerals with signs proclaiming that God hates gays, staged a brief protest outside Salt Lake City's West High School on Jan. 24 in response to student-led efforts to create a "queer-straight" alliance.
The high court rendered an 8-1 decision in Snyder v. Phelps, a case stemming from Westboro's 2006 picketing of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder's funeral in Maryland. Westboro parishioners brandished signs with messages against gays and signs like "Thank God for Dead Soldiers."
The soldier's father, Albert Snyder, sued Westboro founder Fred Phelps and his fellow protestors for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Snyder secured a jury verdict against Westboro for $10 million, which a judge later halved to $5 million.
In a majority opinion penned by Chief Justice John Roberts, the high court explained that Westboro's hurtful speech is protected from tort liability under the First Amendment because it addresses issues of public interest such as "the political and moral conduct of the United States and its citizens, the fate of the nation, homosexuality in the military and scandals involving the Catholic clergy."
The Supreme Court's decision affirmed a previous ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit to invalidate the trial court's decision to award $5 million in damages.
Justice Samuel Alito provided the lone dissenting vote in Snyder v. Phelps.