Constitutional Law

WASHINGTON ? The Supreme Court ruled today that the First Amendment protects fundamentalist church members who mount anti-gay protests outside military funerals, despite the pain they cause grieving families.

The Court voted 8-1 in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan. The decision upheld an appeals court ruling that threw out a $5 million judgment to the father of a dead Marine who sued church members after they picketed his son's funeral.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion for the Court in Snyder v. Phelps. Justice Samuel Alito dissented.

Tony Mauro, First Amendment Center legal correspondent, was at the Court when Roberts announced the ruling. Mauro reported that Roberts delivered the ruling from the bench in a quiet, almost sorrowful voice, as if to apologize for protecting such offensive speech. He recited some of the messages conveyed by the funeral protest signs, including "Thank God for Dead Soldiers," and "Fags Doom Nations." Though the signs "may fall short" of refined commentary, Roberts said, they concerned "matters of public import" that came under the First Amendment's protection. The Westboro Baptist Church protesters were picketing peacefully on public land, and had alerted police of their plans, he added.

Roberts acknowledged mournfully that the demonstration had added to the "already incalculable grief" of Albert Snyder, the father of a Marine killed in Iraq. Snyder had sued Westboro and its pastor Fred Phelps for the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress. But that suit had to be set aside, Roberts said, because of the choice the United States has made to protect even hurtful speech.

"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,? Roberts said. ?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."

Alito strongly disagreed. "Our profound national commitment to free and open debate is not a license for the vicious verbal assault that occurred in this case," he said.

Matthew Snyder died in Iraq in 2006 and his body was returned to the United States for burial. Members of the Westboro Baptist Church, who have picketed military funerals for several years, decided to protest outside the Westminster, Md., church where Snyder's funeral was to be held.

The Rev. Fred Phelps and other family members who make up most of the Westboro Baptist Church have picketed many military funerals in their quest to draw attention to their incendiary view that U.S. deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq are God's punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.

They showed up with their usual signs, including "Thank God for dead soldiers," ''You're Going to Hell," ''God Hates the USA/Thank God for 9/11," and one that combined the U.S. Marine Corps motto, Semper Fi, with a slur against gay men.

The church members drew counter-demonstrators, as well as news-media coverage and a heavy police presence to maintain order. The result was a spectacle that led to altering the route of the funeral procession.

Several weeks later, Albert Snyder was surfing the Internet for tributes to his son from other soldiers and strangers when he came upon a poem on the church's website that attacked Matthew's parents for the way they brought up their son.

Soon after, Albert Snyder filed a lawsuit accusing the Phelpses of intentionally inflicting emotional distress. He won $11 million at trial, later reduced by a judge to $5 million.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., threw out the verdict and said the Constitution shielded the church members from liability.

Forty-eight states, 42 U.S. senators and veterans groups sided with Snyder, asking the Court to shield funerals from the Phelps family's "psychological terrorism."

While distancing themselves from the church's message, media organizations, including the Associated Press, urged the Court to side with the Phelps family because of concerns that a victory for Snyder could erode free-speech rights.

Roberts described the Court's holding as narrow, and in a separate opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer suggested in other circumstances, governments would not be "powerless to provide private individuals with necessary protection."

But in this case, Breyer said, it would be wrong to "punish Westboro for seeking to communicate its views on matters of public concern."

Margie Phelps, a daughter of Fred Phelps and a lawyer who argued the case at the Supreme Court, said she expected the outcome. "The only surprise is that Justice Alito did not feel compelled to follow his oath," Phelps said. "We read the law. We follow the law. The only way for a different ruling is to shred the First Amendment."

She also offered her church's view of the decision. "I think it's pretty self-explanatory, but here's the core point: The wrath of God is pouring onto this land. Rather than trying to shut us up, use your platforms to tell this nation to mourn for your sins."