Supreme Court Plans to Hear Snyder’s Case

The Westboro Baptist Church, located in Topeka, is owed over thousands of dollars from the father of a dead marine. Members of the Church, led by Pastor Fred Phelps, routinely travel the country to picket the funerals of dead soldiers. The Church claims that U.S. military deaths are God’s way of punishing us for the “sin of homosexuality.” The marine, Matthew, was twenty years old when he died in 2006 while serving in Iraq. The father of the deceased marine, Albert Snyder, had sued the church back in 2007 and was granted almost eight million dollars. Westboro appealed the case to the U.S 4th Circuit Court of Appeals and it was overturned due to the violation of the Church’s 1st amendment rights. Furthermore, on Friday, the Court ruled that Snyder must pay over sixteen thousand dollars in court costs. Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly promised on Wednesday’s “The O’Reilly Factor” that he would pick up the entire tab. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case in order to address the issues of protection of the “sanctity and dignity of memorial and funeral services” as well as the first amendment issues of free speech and religion. Snyder has no plans to meet his financial obligations until hearing from the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court Case stipulates that there was malice. The question here is if there is a violation of freedom of speech and religion, as well as the laws addressing the protection of funeral services. The defendants claim that they are within the boundaries of the first amendment, and that this lawsuit was driven from emotions. The case, scheduled to be heard in the fall, will surely be an interesting and monumental one

The fees that Snyder owes to the Church are nothing short of an injustice. The Church protested his son’s funeral, as well as the funerals of many other soldiers, with malicious intent. The daughter of Pastor Fred Phelps, Shirley, recently stated that her church has picketed thousands of military funerals each year because of their belief that God is punishing soldiers who defend a country that tolerates and accepts homosexuality. There is no reason why Snyder should have to pay the Church who protested his son’s funeral. The “disturbed souls” (in the words of Bill O’Reilly) could not be more misguided. There is absolutely no logical explanation to picket the funerals of the brave men and women who keep this country safe because of the increasing acceptance of homosexuality. The Church, like everyone else, has the right to exercise freedom of speech, but slander is not free speech. Westboro has the right to exercise their freedom of speech, like other supremacist groups, but as long as it is not slander. They have the right to express their opinions on homosexuality just like you and I can. However, they need to reconsider their severely misguided approach: would God really want them to picket the funerals of people who have sacrificed their lives to keep them safe?

If you would like to learn more about this case, I encourage you to visit his website that honors his son and informs people of the Church’s wrongdoings, http://www.matthewsnyder.org. In addition, I encourage you to show your support for Snyder by joining the Facebook group, “I support Al Snyder in His fight against Westboro Baptist Church.”