Mr. Beat presents... Supreme Court Briefs
Westminster, Maryland March 10, 2006
Family and friends attend the funeral of Matthew Snyder at St. John’s Catholic Church. Snyder,
a soldier for the United States Marine Corps, had died in the Iraq War a week earlier. Snyder’s
father, Albert Synder, had announced the funeral to the public in local newspapers the day before.
As Snyder’s family and friends arrived for the funeral, Fred Phelps, the leader of the Westboro
Baptist Church, and six of his relatives and fellow church members, protested the funeral
approximately 1,000 feet from the church. They were on public land, but held up signs that said
some really horrible and hateful things, like “Thank God for Dead Soldiers,” “God Hates Fags,”
“You’re Going to Hell,” and “God Hates America.”As the family and friends of Matthew Snyder arrived
to the funeral, some of them understandably were quite offended by these protests.
If you already know about the Westboro Baptist Church, these hateful protests shouldn’t be
surprising. Unfortunately, I am all too familiar with the group as they are headquartered close to
where I live, in the city I was born in- Topeka, Kansas. I have come across their protests at least
a dozen times throughout my life. If you don’t know who the Westboro Baptist Church is, it’s
a small, unaffiliated Primitive Baptist church founded in 1955 by the late Fred Phelps. Today,
there are likely less than 70 members of the church, but they get a lot of media attention
despite their small numbers by provocatively protesting events, mostly to bring attention
to their Antisemtic, Islamophobic, and anti-LGBT+ views. During the Iraq War,
they routinely protested the funerals of dead American soldiers with the simple
purpose of spreading their hateful views. In fact, on the day Matthew Snyder’s funeral,
Phelps and his relatives protested at two other locations with the same signs.
Anyway, Albert Snyder was understandably upset that the Westboro Baptist Church
had protested his son’s funeral. After seeing them get more media coverage for the protest,
he became angry at them. After seeing the Westboro Baptist Church’s website
specifically talking trash about Albert’s wife and Matthew’s mother, Julie Snyder,
for raising their son Catholic, saying that they “taught Matthew to defy his Creator”
and “raised him for the devil,” he became even more angry at them. In the U.S. District Court
for the District of Maryland, Albert decided to sue Fred Phelp and two of his daughters,
Rebekah Phelps-Davis and Shirley Phelps-Roper, for civil conspiracy, defamation, intentional
infliction of emotional distress, intrusion upon seclusion, and publicity given to private life.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland dismissed the defamation charge since
it was based on the Westboro Baptist Church posting stuff on their website,
and it also dismissed the publicity given to the private life charge since the funeral was
already made public by Albert Snyder, as he had announced it in local newspapers. However,
the District Court considered the rest of the charges. In the trial, Albert Snyder testified,
“[The Westboro Baptist Church] turned this funeral into a media circus and they wanted to hurt my
family. They wanted their message heard and they didn’t care who they stepped over. My son should
have been buried with dignity, not with a bunch of clowns outside.” Snyder also argued that the
protests of the Phelps family had literally caused his health to decline. Shirley Phelps-Roper,
a trained lawyer who had been working for the Phelps family’s law firm for years,
represented them in Court. She argued that they had complied with local ordinances and
obeyed the instructions of the local police. Not only that, Phelps-Roper argued that they
had been peaceful and did not shout at the funeral attendees. Therefore,
their protests were protected under the First Amendment of the Constitution.
Regardless, on October 31, 2007, the jury announced it had sided with Snyder, and
ultimately awarded him $10.9 million in damages ($15.8 million in today’s money). The judge,
Richard Bennett, later reduced those damages to $5 million ($7.3 million in today’s money),
and said that if the Phelps couldn’t afford to pay those damages,
the government would seize their church buildings in Topeka.
Not only did the Phelps appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit,
but they announced that they would continue to protest military funerals. The U.S. Court
of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit sided with the Phelps, reversing the lower court’s jury decision.
It argued that the First Amendment protected their protests, and even ordered Albert Snyder
to pay the court costs of the Phelps. The national media heavily covered this verdict, and it caused
Americans across the country to become outraged. Bill O’Reilly, who was a prominent political
pundit on Fox News, even pledged to cover all current and future court costs of Snyder.
Snyder appealed to the Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case on March 8,
2010. Multiple media and civil rights organizations joined forces to support the Phelps,
including the American Civil Liberties Union and National Public Radio. Multiple veterans groups,
as well as 42 members of the United States Senate, joined forces to support
Snyder. This case got more national media attention than most Supreme Court cases do,
likely due to the notoriety of the Westboro Baptist Church, who Americans almost uniformly
despised and continue to despise by the way. The Court heard oral arguments on October 6, 2010.
The big question they had to consider was, “Does the First Amendment protect protestors at a
funeral from liability for creating emotional distress on the family of the deceased?”
The Court said “yes.” On March 2, 2011, it announced it had sided with Phelps. It was
surprisingly a lopsided decision- 8-1. Only Justice Samuel Alito sided with Snyder. Chief
Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, writing, “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 and that protection cannot be overcome by a jury finding that the
picketing (protesting) was outrageous.” Roberts said that the First Amendment indeed protects
the Westboro Baptist Church from being sued for protesting because it didn’t disrupt the funeral,
was on public land, and was dealt with “matters of public concern.” “Public
concern” just means it’s highly relevant to the community’s values or interest.
Snyder v. Phelps reaffirmed the principle that, even if speech is ridiculously offensive and
unpopular, it’s still protected by the First Amendment. In other words,
the government can’t restrict speech simply because it’s extremely distasteful or causes
emotional harm. As long as you protest peacefully on public land, you can pretty
much say the most outrageous things imaginable. Indeed, the Phelps still regularly do this.
I’ll see you for the next Supreme Court case, jury!
The First Amendment is so precious. It helps everyone have a voice. But with everyone having a
voice, that often leads to lots of misinformation, emotionally-charged click-bait, and clear
political bias. Well, I have hope for the future because this video is sponsored by Ground News,
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If you are wondering where the heck I am right now, I’m in Topeka,
Kansas in front of the Westboro Baptist Church. And if you know anything about me,
ya know that I love to troll hate. And what better way to troll hate than to buy up properties across
the street from the Westboro Baptist Church and convert them into centers of support for
the LGBT+ community. Right here we have the Equality House, painted with bright rainbow
colors to show support for the LGBT+ community. And next door is the Mott House…a building that is
a symbol of hope and support for the transgender community. If you’re ever in Topeka, I highly
recommend you check both of these places out…not so much check that place out across the street.
So which Supreme Court case should I cover for this series next? Let me know down below. And
thanks for watching! Now I better get out of here before one of the Phelps sees me.