Phelps pickets from a July 2010 Dallas appearance
By an 8-1 decision, the Supreme Court upheld the right of Westboro Baptist Church to picket military funerals, according to Associated Press.
From the decision:
“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.”
The father of a Marine killed in Iraq in 2006 sued the Phelps clan for picketing at the funeral. He called the group’s actions targeted harassment and invasion of privacy. The purpose of the picketing was to purposely inflict pain.
In a jury trial, the father was awarded $11 million that was reduced to $5 million by the judge. On appeal, the ruling was overturned and the judgment thrown out. This ruling upholds the appeals court.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion. The dissenting vote came from Justice Samuel Alito.
A group of 21 news organizations filed a brief siding with the Phelps group based on preserving free speech rights.
Can I use this opportunity to tell everyone about an event I organize near the WBC’s physical location in Topeka? We gather a few hundred people each year and go protest them (not a counterprotest as is usually done). The Supreme Court just upheld the “right to protest.” Might as well use it against Westboro.
If you’d would like to join in, there’s info at https://www.themfm.com.
@Chris L: Why give them attention they don’t deserve? If you acknowledge their existence, then you are playing right into their hands. Like children, they’re only doing this for the attention.
Having the right to do something doesn’t necessarily make it the right thing to do. “Freedom consists not in doing whatever we like, but in having the right to do what we ought” says John Paul II. Our courts have protected evil choices in the name of “freedom” before and they will continue to do so. But evil action is not a right, it is a license because God does not give anyone the right to do evil. When your license to do something tramples on another’s human rights, that is evil.
These Baptists are committing an injustice towards the deceased and their families in the name of Free Speech. To bury the dead is a corporal work of mercy, says the Church. And every human person should be given the dignity of a proper burial because they are created in the image and likeness of God. The protesters are impeding on the dignity of other human beings, which is a mortal offense against God’s commandment to love our neighbor.
Though they may believe their intentions are good, “An evil action cannot be justified by reference to a good intention” says Saint Thomas Aquinas. If they had a divine moral authority outside of themselves to guide them, they might see the error of their ways. But because they only recognize man-made authorities (their pastor and the courts), their moral relativism blinds them.