Westboro Baptist Church Case Study

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The Westboro Baptist Church is known to protest military funerals and churches all over the country to communicate their belief that God hates the United States for its tolerance of homosexuality, as well as scandals involving the Catholic Church. Fred Phelps, the founder of the church, and several of his followers, including his children and grandchildren, traveled to Maryland to protest the funeral of Marine Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder at the Catholic Church in which Matthew’s father chose for the event. The members of the Westboro Baptist Church picketed the funeral peacefully on public land approximately 1,000 feet away from the venue, and cooperated with the guidance set forth by local police. Fred Phelps and his followers, mostly consisting of his family, held picket signs communicating phrases such as “Thank God for Dead Soldiers,” “Fags Doom Nations,” “America is Doomed,” “Priests Rape Boys,” and “You’re Going to Hell” preceding the funeral. Matthew’s father, Albert Snyder, claims to have seen the protesters and the tops of their picket signs, however, he had not known the nature of the protest or what had been written on the signs until later that evening when watching the story on the news. After having seen the broadcast Albert filed a …show more content…
Fred Phelps and the Westboro Church then appealed the verdict, claiming that the amount was excessive and that the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protected their right to peacefully protest. The District Court decreased the monetary debt, however, the verdict was not changed. The case then went to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals which determined that the church’s speech is protected by the 1st Amendment, therefore, Snyder was not entitled to monetary damages. The Supreme Court agreed with the ruling of the 4th Circuit Court in an 8-1 majority opinion, affirming that the church’s speech is
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