Westboro Baptist Church Case Headed Toward Supreme Court

A military father is fighting back. His son, Matt Snyder, was killed in 2006 while serving in Iraq. A protest at his son's funeral has triggered a nightmare of emotional pain and court battles. At issue is whether the Westboro Baptist Church took things too far.

The day Al Snyder's son's body came back, Westboro Baptist Church had sent out hateful fliers with a photo of his son's face prominently displayed. The fliers claimed that God was killing U.S. soldiers because of America's acceptance of homosexuality and announced the church's protest at the funeral. It's hard enough to lose a child, but Al says the Fred Phelps' church was kicking him in the face at the lowest point of his life.

Four weeks after the church appeared at the funeral, Al discovered that Westboro Baptist Church published an article online saying that the verdict was in on the Snyders — that God called it because the Snyders were teaching their son adultery, raising him for the devil, and so forth.

Al sued the Westboro Baptist Church for invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional pain. He won and was awarded millions of dollars by the jury.

Westboro appealed. They won on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in September 2009. The court cited free speech in overturning the verdict.

Snyder has since appealed to the United States Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court accepts the case, its decision will affect how funerals are conducted and whether religious groups have the right to "free speech" during what would normally be a private and emotional ceremony for grieving family members and friends. The Westboro Baptist Church claims that it is glad it will have the opportunity to preach to the Supreme Court and has filed a brief.

Due to its win on appeal, Westboro is suing Snyder for approximately $100,000 for reimbursement of legal fees and costs.

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Veterans find the Westboro Baptist Church's actions disgusting. After watching the report (shown immediately above), vets at the Lancaster VFW were angry, felt like throwing up, and cried.

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Related posts:

1. Supreme Court to Consider Dispute with Westboro Baptist Church
2. Westboro Baptist Church Strikes Again
3. Westboro Baptist Church in Arkansas Faces Counter-Protests
4. Jews A New Focus for the Westboro Baptist Church
5. Westboro Baptist Protesters Greeted by Large Counter-Protest
6. The Westboro Baptist Church's Latest Music Video
7. Westboro Baptist Church Protests in Minneapolis
8. Westboro Baptist Church At It Again
9. Westboro Baptist Protest at the White House
10. Westboro Baptists in California

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One Response to “Westboro Baptist Church Case Headed Toward Supreme Court”

1. Supreme Court to Consider Dispute with Westboro Baptist Church - God Discussion says:

   March 10, 2010 at 8:06 am

   [...] For more background on this situation, see our article published on February 5, 2010: Westboro Baptist Church Case Headed Toward Supreme Court [...]

   Reply

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