Chief Justice John Roberts summed up today’s Supreme Court ruling in the case of Snyder v. Phelps with a simple statement: according to 8 out of 9 justices, the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church members who protested at the funeral of gay Iraq war veteran Matthew Snyder “had the right to be where they were.”
MetroWeekly reports that Albert Snyder, father of the deceased Marine Lance Corporal, sued the church after protestors picketed his son’s funeral with signs bearing slogans like, “Thank God for IEDs” and “God Hates Fags.”
With the exception of Justice Samuel Alito, the sole voice of dissent in the Snyder v. Phelps case, Roberts spoke for the court when he said, “the record confirms that any distress occasioned by Westboro’s picketing turned on the content and viewpoint of the message conveyed, rather than any interference with the funeral itself.”
According to Roberts, the prosecution’s definition of “outrageous” or “objectionable” language in this case was too subjective to be the basis of an unbiased jury ruling.
Roberts cited defense of free speech under the First Amendment in his concluding remarks about the case, explaining that the court’s decision is intended “to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate.”
In contrast, justice Alito offered this statement: “Our profound national commitment to free and open debate is not a license for the vicious verbal assault that occurred in this case.”
