“Speech is powerful. It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and—as it did here—inflict great pain. On the facts before us, we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker.” —Roberts, Chief Justice 

Facts: Fred Phelps founded the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. The church’s congregation believes that God hates and punishes the United States for its tolerance of homosexuality, particularly in America’s military. The church frequently communicates its views by picketing at military funerals. In more than 20 years, the members of Westboro Baptist have picketed at nearly 600 funerals. Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder, a member of the U.S. Marines, was killed in Iraq in the line of duty. Lance Corporal Snyder’s father, Albert Snyder, selected the Catholic Church in the Snyders’ hometown of Westminster, Maryland, as the site for his son’s funeral. Phelps decided to travel to Maryland with six other Westboro Baptist parishioners—two of his daughters and four of his grandchildren—to picket at Lance Corporal Snyder’s funeral service. The Westboro congregation members picketed while standing on public land adjacent to a public street approximately 1,000 feet from the church. They carried placards that read “God Hates the USA/ Thank God for 9/11,” “America Is Doomed,” “Don’t Pray for the USA,” “Thank God for Dead Soldiers,” and “You’re Going to Hell.” The picketers sang hymns and recited Bible verses. The funeral procession passed within 200 to 300 feet of the picket site. Albert Snyder filed a lawsuit against Phelps, Phelps’s daughters, and the Westboro Baptist Church (collective “Westboro”) in U.S. district court. Snyder alleged intentional infliction of emotional distress and other state law tort claims. Westboro argued that their speech was protected by the First Amendment. The jury found for Snyder and held Westboro liable for $2.9 million in compensatory damages and $8 million in punitive damages. The U.S. district court remitted the punitive damages to $2.1 million. The U.S. court of appeals held that the First Amendment protected Westboro’s speech and reversed the judgment. Snyder appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Issue: Does the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment shield church members from tort liability for their funeral picketing speech? 

Language of the U.S. Supreme Court: The “content” of Westboro’s signs plainly relates to broad issues of interest to society at large, rather than matters of “purely private concern.” Simply put, the church members had the right to be where they were. Given that Westboro’s speech was at a public place on a matter of public concern, that speech is entitled to “special protection” under the First Amendment. Such speech cannot be restricted simply because it is upsetting or arouses contempt. Indeed, the point of all speech protection is to shield just those choices of content that in someone’s eyes are misguided, or even hurtful. Speech is powerful. It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and as it did here inflict great pain. On the facts before us, we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker. As a Nation we have chosen a different course to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate. That choice requires that we shield Westboro from tort liability for its picketing in this case. 

Decision: The U.S. Supreme Court held that the First Amendment protected Westboro’s speech in this case. The U.S. Supreme Court held that Mr. Snyder could not recover tort damages for the emotional distress he suffered because of Westboro’s speech. 

Ethics Questions: Did the Westboro picketers know that they were causing personal grief to Mr. Snyder, who had lost his son? Should they have let Mr. Snyder bury his son in peace?