The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled 8-1 that even the members of the vile Topeka-based Westboro Baptist Church, who protest innocent people’s funerals with their special message of insane hate – God Hates Fags – have a constitutional right to free speech.
And that’s a good thing.
The decision upheld an appeals court ruling that threw out a $5 million judgment to Albert Snyder, the father of a dead Marine who sued the church after its members picketed his son’s funeral.
Only Justice Samuel Alito dissented. I have not had a chance to read the ruling, but it will it will be interesting to read Alito’s argument.
In the majority opinion, according to the Washington Post, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote:
“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.”
I’d like these people to go away every bit as the next person. But if you don’t believe in the First Amendment for abhorrent language that offends you, then you don’t believe in the First Amendment at all. It’s really that simple.
I visited the folks at the Westboro Baptist Church last summer. Here is a video of an interview I had with Shirley Phelps Roper. After a few minutes of her rambling, I grew bored and just wanted to ignore her.
