"Thank God for Dead Soldiers." "God Hates Fags." "You're Going to Hell."Is this protected free speech? What if it was being said outside the funeral of a soldier who had fought in Iraq? That’s the question the U.S. Supreme Court will begin hearing today.
Everyone knows what the answer should be when it comes to hate-filled and insulting protests at military funerals. But when the question is what the Constitution allows, finding – and accepting – the answer becomes much more difficult. Consider some of the issues the Supreme Court has found allowable under the First Amendment. Is burning the flag, a physical act, “speech” protected under the first Amendment? Yes, says the highest court in the land.. How about the recent case involving videos featuring the sexualized killing of kittens? Protected by the 1st Amendment? Yes, that too -- only Justice Alito dissented.
Here’s what led to the most recent case. Albert Snyder’s son Matthew was a soldier serving in Iraq. He gave up his life for his country in 2006. At Matthew’s funeral, a group from the Westboro Baptist Church showed up – a church infamous for their inflammatory and controversial anti-gay protests. Matthew Snyder was not gay, but that didn’t seem to matter. Members of the Church, led by the Rev. Fred Phelps, began protesting outside using signs with the most vile and offensive language imaginable, attacking gays and wishing death upon the men and women of the United States military.
The odd tie-in between wishing death upon soldiers and the group’s anti-gay views comes from the Westboro Church’s theory that God hates people for being homosexual and is killing U.S. soldiers as punishment. The church has reportedly staged tens of thousands of such protests at various funerals and event.
Obviously insulted and distraught by the display, Snyder’s father Albert took the church to court and won a verdict for $11 million (later reduced to $5 million) in damages for emotional distress and invasion of privacy. Later, a U.S. Court of appeals overturned the decision, finding in effect that the protests were protected expression under the First Amendment.
Snyder’s argument is clear enough to everyone. "I want them to stop doing this to our military men and women," he told Fox News yesterday. "I want the judges to hear that this case is not about free speech, it's about targeted harassment."
In his legal brief submitted to the Supreme Court, Snyder’s lawyer argues that “The Phelpses’(the Reverend’s daughter is in on the act as well, and is also his lawyer) conduct during Matthew Snyder’s funeral caused Mr. Snyder serious emotional and physical hardship and hindered his grieving process.” A brief on Mr. Snyder’s behalf has also been offered by a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators, including Majority Leader Reid and Minority Leader McConnell.
No one can argue that the fact this case takes place at a funeral is a unique circumstance. It is a social institution designed for sacredness; to console and comfort the family and friends; and to also remember the deceased. This would seem to make the protests disruptive by their very presence. Will this make the difference?
The actions of the Westboro group have been close to a hearing before the Supreme Court before. Last year, the Court declined to hear an appeal from the state of Missouri, which sought to enforce a law protecting military funerals from the same protestors. That law was barred by a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In all likelihood, if the court wanted to put an end to this, it could have granted Missouri’s appeal and at least heard their case, in effect telling other states they would be free to pass similar statutes. They chose not to then. Now they have the opportunity to take action, but unless Sam Alito has won his colleagues over, given their recent record on free speech cases, the court may indeed find the pickets to be constitutional.
The fact is, relying solely on our government and our laws alone will never create the society we want to live in. Sometimes the only solution to this vile, hateful speech is more speech, rooted in love and patriotism. It is up to all of us to show support to our military personnel in whatever ways we can, and be there to drown out the negative with the positive.
- Paul Ciarcia
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