Snyder V. Phelps No - 1671 Words

Snyder v. Phelps No. 09-751 131 S. Ct. 1207 (2011) Argued October 6, 2010 Decided March 2, 2011 On March 10, 2006 the Westboro Baptist Church picketed the funeral of fallen Marine, Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder. The Snyder family sued the Church, accusing them of defamation, invasion of privacy by intrusion upon seclusion, and infliction of intentional emotional distress, a tort under state law. On October 6, 2010, Snyder v. Phelps No. 09-751 was brought before the courts. The Justices’ of the court did not reach a decision until March 2, 2011 (Oyez Project). Fred Phelps and the members of the Westboro Baptist Church believe that God is punishing the United States for its tolerance of homosexuality, especially in America’s military. For the past 20 years they have picketed many military funerals across the country. They also condemned the Catholic Church for the scandals involving their clergy. On March 10, 2006, at Matthew Snyder’s funeral, Fred Phelps and six other members of the church, all of which were his family, peacefully displayed their signs which stated, â€Å"Thank God for Dead Soldiers,† â€Å"Fags Doom Nations,† â€Å"Priests Rape Boys,† â€Å"Semper Fi Fags,† God Hates You,† Pope in Hell,† and â€Å"Thank God for 9/11† (Cornell). Prior to picketing this funeral the members of the Westboro Church notified the authorities to insure the fact that they would not be violating any laws. They staged the picket on public land adjacent to a public street, 1,000 feet away from the church theShow MoreRelatedCase Analysis : Snyder V. Phelps Essay977 Words   |  4 PagesAssignment One: Snyder V. Phelps â€Å"At what point do we take personal attacks, and permit those, as opposed to -- I fully accept you’re entitled, in some circumstances, to speak about any political issue you want. But where is the line between doing that, and creating hardship for an individual?† –Justice Sonia Sotomayor. In the case of Snyder V. Phelps, Two very passionate sides debated just that. The Snyder family accused Phelps, or Westboro, of the tort claim of intentional infliction of emotionalRead MoreFirst Amendment and Free Speech Essay1544 Words   |  7 Pages In the case of Snyder v. Phelps, Snyder sued Phelps, the Westboro Baptist Church, for intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy by intrusion upon seclusion, and conspiracy because the church set-up protest outside of his military son’s funeral service (Chen et al., 2010). Another side of free speech involves a case which allow schools to restrict speech that is promoting illegal drug use. To examine this view this paper will look at the case of Morse v. Frederick. LastlyRead MoreFred Phelps Is The Leader Of The Westboro Baptist Church895 Words   |  4 PagesName and Citation: Snyder v. Phelps, 562 U. S. ___ (2011) Facts: Fred Phelps is the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church which is considered to be extremist. Phelps and his followers believe that God punishes those who are tolerant of homosexuality. Since, the United States has a high tolerance of homosexuality, they believe that the United States is damned. The military also has recently become more accepting of homosexuals in their ranks, thus the Westboro Baptist Church pickets many militaryRead MoreThe Importance Of Freedom Of Speech1192 Words   |  5 Pagesspeech is not active fighting words threatening the livelihood of somebody, you’re allowed to say whatever you want. A landmark case in confirming this was the 2010 case of Snyder v. Phelps; the fight between the family of a soldier killed on duty, and America’s most hated family. The petitioner of the case was Albert Snyder, father of 20 year old Matthew A.Snyder (represented by Sean E. Summers). In 2006, Matthew was in Iraq on active duty when his Humvee overturned and killed him. Seven days laterRead MoreThe Controversy of Westboro Baptist Church735 Words   |  3 Pagestaken against them because they have been ruled to be protected by the 1st Amendment. Westboro Baptist Church Background Founded in 1931 in Topeka, KS The church was taken over by Fred Phelps in the 1950s after he was hired as an associate pastor The approximately 75 current members are mostly from the Phelps family, including children as young as five who are made to participate in the protests History of Protests: Anti-Gay Protests (Some examples) Protests against homosexuals or any pro-LGBT:Read MoreLimitations Of Liberalism926 Words   |  4 Pagessocial and economic justice. However, this is the limit to liberalism to not encroach on anyone’s equal rights. In the U.S. Supreme Court case Snyder v. Phelps, Fred Phelps and the members of his Westboro Baptist Church, who believes God is punishing the United States for tolerating homosexuals, picketed at Lance Corporal Matthew Snyders funeral. Albert Snyder, the deceased’s father sued for inflicting emotional distress. While the acts of picketers were non-liberal by being intolerant, they were actsRead MoreThe Westboro Baptist Church : When Does The 1st Amendment Trump The Public Interest?3824 Words   |  16 Pagesstronger. However, this tactic has caused much consternation from both the public and the government. In the interest of the public, state legislatures have enacted laws against the actions of the Westboro Baptist Church. The landmark case of Snyder v. Phelps would have been the deciding factor against the group, but the Supreme Court held in favor of the group because their actions were protected by the First Amendment. This then would present the notion that the First Amendment trumped public interestRead MoreThe Judicial Philosophy Of Samuel Alito1298 Words   |  6 Pagesthe meaning that someone would have taken from the text of the Constitution at the time of its adoption†(Liptak 2006). To Justice Alito, the Constitution should be look at in terms of the time and era when it was written. In the case of Hollingsworth v. Perry indicates that Justice Samuel Alito dissented this case. He believes that proposition 8 should remain and this kind of case should go through the legislative process instead. In his dissent he stated, â€Å"In the end, what the Court fails to graspRead MoreFree Speech : Freedom Of Speech1889 Words   |  8 Pagesright to make or distribute obscene materials, Roth v. United States, 354 U.S. 476 ( 1957), or to provoke actions that would harm others, Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47 (1919). Freedom of Speech includes but is not limited to the right â€Å"not to speak,† specifically, the right not to salute the flag, West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943); the right of students to wear black armbands to school to protest war, Tinker v. Des Moines, 393 U.S. 503 (1969); and the right toRead MoreThe Freedom Of Speech Protected Under The Frist Constitution Essay1769 Words   |  8 Pages there are in some cases where a certain kind of speech is unprotected if it involves â€Å" fighting words â€Å" or as defined by the Supreme Court speech that intends to innate a violent reaction or breaches the peace. For instance the case, Chaplinsky v. Hampshire (1940) Walter Chaplinsky, a Jehovah s Witness, was using a public sidewalk as a platform in downtown Rochester, handing out pamphlets and labeling organized religion a racket. After a large crowd had begun to form blocking the roads and