<p>Great to hear some of the backstory- glad to hear that they don’t belong to a traditional Baptist church. I was wondering how the church members felt about their offerings going to maintain a Supreme Court Battle…makes more sense now.</p>
<p>Of course, the USCT decision makes more sense when pondered during the morning news…in some nations, the “military” commits true attrocities and I can see wanting to protest if goons were being glorified.</p>
<p>Like college_query in Kansas, we here on the east side of the Missouri River have had plenty of exposure to the Phelps clan. Our town was the first municipality to ban protests at military funerals after they came here. The Phelps children stood outside City Hall the entire day of the vote. (I guess they count that as eduational time for homeschooling?) But it was overturned by the Missouri Supreme Court and our City Council had to rescind it. Now there are two new bills in the current Missouri legislature about picketing at funerals.</p>
<p>As college_query says, this family is well educated and many are lawyers. Our older son edited some raw video shot by a Kansas City radio station who was invited to visit the Phelps heaquarters. They are well organized, have great managerial skills and seemingly unlimited money to travel all over the country.</p>
<p>Their intelligence, however, does not make their hate justifiable.</p>
<p>This is one of those awful cases where you feel the Supreme Court decision is the right one, but you wish there had been some way for these people to lose. It’s often said that hard cases make bad law–this one didn’t.</p>
<p>I get the ruling; don’t like it but I get it. The concept of free speech is too important. Suppose if this situation was granted an exception, it would be a slippery slope from there.</p>
<p>Al Snyder, the fallen Marine’s dad, said, “Eight justices don’t have the common sense God gave a goat.”</p>
<p>My heart goes out to him.</p>
<p>I will happily line the streets of a nearby funeral so these quacks can’t interrupt.</p>
<p>Listened to a radio interview with one of Phelps’s daughters last night. She’s an attorney and seemingly a very competent one. But the rantings she issued to the reporter were pure meglomania.</p>
<p>Also, one of our local TV news reports showed footage of a Phelps protest. The protesters were clearly creating a physical confrontation, nearly bum-rushing the police officers whom apparently were attempting to keep the Phelps and their targets separated. I saw a placard-carrying protester wildly waving his arms and shouting, again seeming to try a bum-rush at officers. That’s not protected speech!!!</p>
<p>Mr. Snyder is responsible for court costs since he lost the 4th Circuit appeal. I believe he has been ordered to pay about $16k and there are motions pending for more. I’m sure donations will help.</p>
<p>I thought “free speech zones” were sometimes legal. On university premises, airports, and most definitely any of the political conventions, protesters can be kept out of the way or even out of sight and earshot of the venue, altogether. Of course, this is strenuously debated as being unconstitutional in and of itself.</p>
<p>I believe the Phelps people were not actually that close to the funeral.</p>
<p>They were at the vehicle entrance to the cemetery. Everyone had to drive by them. Maybe keeping them 1000 feet away from any place on the grounds would work. I don’t think you have to be in somebody’s face to have free speech. Especially if that person is not a public person. People shouold have the right to privacy over the right to free speech in their face. Go speak at the local mall parking lot or on the steps of your own goofy church.</p>
<p>I also get the ruling. Westboro followers are evil. But I’m glad the right to free speech was/is protected.</p>
<p>The facts of this case were simply not in favor of the Snyders. There were 7 protesters who had protested in other parts of Maryland during the day. With regard to the Snyder funeral - </p>
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<p>I wish the media would stop covering the Phelps’ funeral protests.</p>
<p>Those Westboro creeps are so awful. But it’s not unconstitutional to be awful. I suppor the ruling.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure there’s a spot in hell waiting for them. It doesn’t have to be unconstitutional to be WRONG.</p>
<p>This is America. Big country. There’s someone somewhere who will believe (or do) just about anything. And 40% of the country thinks dinosaurs ate humans for brunch.</p>
<p>I heard yesterday on NPR that something like 43 states now have legislation that restricts protests at funerals, usually by specifying a distance, like 1000 feet. The Westboro-ites always check in with local authorities and get whatever permits are required and observe the restrictions.</p>
<p>There’s a counter-protest movement on facebook. Whenever Westboro announces a protest, the call goes out on facebook for “angels.” These counter-protesters wear white robes and stand silently on the curb in front of the Westboro-ites. They raise their arms and the voluminous white sleeves form “wings” which block the signs as the mourners drive by. So instead of hateful messages, they see a “divine guard.”</p>
<p>BTW, I’m a Christian, in fact a Baptist. My God is about love, and he “comforts those who mourn.” These horrible, nasty people will have to answer to him someday.</p>