Snyder v. Phelps - the funeral protest case

Snyder v. Phelps is a case with facts so bizarre that they seem to have been the product of a law professor's mind.  As summarized by the trial court and adopted in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion the Westboro Baptist Church is a bizarre little fundamentalist cult of five or six dozen members almost all of whom are the family of its pastor Fred W. Phelps, Jr.
They are vehemently opposed to homosexuality, adultery, divorce, and abortion which they believe our society sinfully tolerates and God punishes.  To publicize their moral message members traveled from Kansas to Maryland to protest at the funeral of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder who had been killed in Iraq.  They stood about 30 feet from the driveway, about  1,000 feet from the church where the funeral was held.

They carried signs which expressed general messages such as "God Hates the USA," "America is doomed,"

"Pope in hell," and "Fag troops." The signs also carried more specific messages, to wit: "You’re going to hell," "God hates you," "Semper fi fags," and "Thank God for dead soldiers." Phelps testified that it was Defendants’ "duty" to deliver the message "whether they want to hear it or not." Lance Cpl. Snyder’s funeral was thus utilized by Defendants as the vehicle for this message.

Later the group posted video of the protest on a website they maintain - www.godhatesfags.com.


Albert Snyder, father of the soldier, sued the church and several members, including the pastor.  In the diversity action Maryland tort law applied.  Snyder testified to

the severity of his emotional injury, stating that he is often tearful and angry, and that he becomes so sick to his stomach that he actually physically vomits. He testified that Defendants placed a "bug" in his head, such that he is unable to separate thoughts of his son from the [Defendants'] actions: "there are nights that I just, you know, I try to think of my son at times and every time I think of my son or pass his picture hanging on the wall or see the medals hanging on the wall that he received from the [M]arine [C]orps, I see those signs." He testified also that "I want so badly to remember all the good stuff and so far, I remember the good stuff, but it always turns into the bad.

The Phelps were held liable for, inter alia, intentional infliction of emotional distress. As charged to the jury, the elements for this tort are: (1) the Phelps' conduct was intentional or reckless; (2) the conduct was extreme and outrageous; (3) the conduct caused emotional distress to Snyder; and (4) the emotional distress was severe.


The jury awarded $2.9 million in compensatory damages for emotional harm and punitive damages of $8 million (later remitted to $2.1 million).

Phelps appealed.  The 4th Circuit found the signs and the internet posting were protected under the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech.  One judge, concurring in the decision, was of the view that the evidence did not support the tort judgment and that the free speech issue need not be decided.  


Snyder petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States which agreed to decide `Does the First Amendment protect protesters at a funeral from liability for intentionally inflicting emotional distress on the family of the deceased?'


According to the attorney for Mr. Snyder "the private, targeted nature of the speech" takes it out of the purview of the First Amendment's free speech guarantees.
The Scotus Blog page is: Snyder v. Phelps