First Amendment Challenges For Westboro Baptist church

The Westboro Baptist church will be facing the Supreme Court to defend their challenges of the First Amendment’s boundaries. A well-established extremist church, Westboro is known for protesting homosexuality at funerals, colleges, and public buildings.

The Supreme Court will be hearing a court case brought by Albert Snyder, the father of a U.S. Marine. Originally, Albert Snyder was awarded $ 8 million in a judgment against the Westboro Baptist Church – an amount the church may not be able to get with even the cheapest personal loans. The First Amendment question is if the extreme hate speech Westboro Baptist Church is legally protected.

The Westboro Baptist Church

The Westboro Baptist Church has been in existence since 1955. The Westboro Baptist Church claims affiliation with Primitive Baptist and Calvinist principles, but it is not affiliated with any Baptist church and most Primitive Baptists reject the Westboro Baptist Church. Based in Topeka, the Westboro Baptist Church pickets funerals, gay pride events, pop concerts, football games, and statehouses. The church wants to spread their message that is anti-religious, anti-Jewish and anti-homosexuality. The United Kingdom has specifically banned the Westboro Baptist Church from entering their country for “inciting hatred”.

Westboro Baptist Church faces legal challenges

Westboro Baptist Church and its members have encountered numerous legal challenges. free-speech lawsuits filed by Westboro have been heard in many cities and states. The members of Westboro have been convicted of trespassing, disorderly conduct, failure to obey police and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. In the past, the Supreme Court has let lower court rulings stand in Westboro Baptist Church cases.

The lawsuit Albert Snyder brought against Westboro Baptist Church

Albert Snyder sued Westboro Baptist Church in 2006, claiming the church protest at his son‘s funeral was not protected. The lawsuit alleged that the Westboro Baptist Church violated the Snyder family‘s right to privacy, as well as defamation. In the original lawsuit, Snyder was awarded $ 8 million in punitive damages. When WBC appealed, the district judge reduced the payday loans to Snyder down to $ 2.1 million. On federal appeal, the case was overturned and Albert Snyder was ordered to pay the legal fees Westboro Baptist Church had incurred during the lawsuit. In March, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Albert Snyder’s case against Westboro.

Limitations on constitutional free speech

Basically, the Westboro Baptist Church lawsuit comes down to the question of protected free speech. “Obscene utterances” and “certain personal slurs” cannot be protected by the First Amendment, according to Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire. The lawsuit also considers the possibility that the free speech expression of the Westboro Baptist Church may have violated the Snyder family‘s constitutionally protected right of freedom of religion – to hold and attend their son‘s funeral. When two constitutionally-protected rights come into conflict, the Supreme Court is asked to determine where the line between the two should be drawn.

Sources:

christian Science Monitor

Balitmore Sun

Wikipedia

Gay marriage Battle Is Lost – christian Right Leader

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