Funeral Protesters Appear Before Supreme Court

Westboro Baptist Church, famous for protesting military funerals with signs saying things like “God hates fags,” had its case heard by the Supreme Court Wednesday. Albert Snyder, whose son Matthew was killed in Iraq in 2006, sued the church for intentional infliction of emotional distress and intrusion upon seclusion.

Snyder won in the trial court, but the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed, saying that the protest was protected by the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech.

In the high court, the Justices did not seem to have much sympathy for the intrusion charge, since the protest was far enough away from the church that no one at the funeral actually saw or heard the protesters. Snyder later saw the protest on television and the Internet, however, and he said the funeral route had to be changed to avoid the protest.

At one point, Justice Antonin Scalia asked Snyder’s lawyer if they were really complaining about the private attacks rather than the intrusion, and the lawyer seemed to agree. This concession in the oral argument will likely result in the Court ruling against Snyder on that claim. Even if the Justices don’t see the lawyer’s answer as a concession, they sounded skeptical of the argument that changing the funeral route amounted to a serious disruption.

Some court-watchers had expected fireworks in the courtroom, with the church’s side being argued by Pastor Fred Phelps’s daughter, Margie Phelps, but Phelps largely kept her arguments legal and factual, with only casual mentions of her “small church” in Kansas. Snyder’s lawyer several times made reference to the desire to bury Matthew Snyder “in a private, dignified manner,” and the Court usually permits such emotional appeals as long as they are not excessive.

Because Margie Phelps is a member of the church and a daughter of the defendant, some were surprised she would be arguing the case herself. Her preparation and presentation were comparable to any Supreme Court lawyer, though.

Several Justices, most notably Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, seemed to disagree with Phelps’s argument that Snyder made himself a public figure by making statements on television about the Iraq war. Under a 1988 ruling in Hustler v. Falwell, public figures generally cannot sue people who make disparaging remarks unless they can show actual malice.

The Justices repeatedly asked Phelps when someone becomes a public figure: Does holding a public funeral make someone a public figure? What about placing an obituary in the paper? What if a reporter contacts the parent and asks his thoughts on the Iraq war, then publishes those comments?

Only Justice Stephen Breyer brought up a possible distinction between television and the Internet, since Snyder did not see the posting on Phelps’s web page until he conducted a Google search for his son’s name.

Outside the Court, church members and supporters held up their signs, though they were largely ignored by passers-by.

The Court will likely hand down a decision in the case in December or January.