¶ … Supreme Court's Decision
I agree with the majority opinion of Chief Justice Roberts in the case of Snyder v. Phelps. I also believe that the only dissent by Justice Samuel Alito is unwarranted and incorrect. The actions of Westboro Baptist Church had little to do with Albert Snyder and his son. The former was merely picketing a funeral that involved military personnel. As such, they were merely expressing their freedom of speech as protected by the U.S. Constitution and its amendments. The church and its members did nothing that warranted any of the sort of emotional distress that Snyder claimed he needed to recover monetary damages for.
This issue was largely decided based on the rhetoric that the signage displayed by Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas displayed. That signage was merely expressing the opinion of various church members regarding the presence of homosexuality in the military. The link between those signs and the funeral that Snyder had for his deceased son is tenuous at best. There are no reports that Snyder's son was homosexual. There are even fewer reports of anything in the signage having to do with Snyder whatsoever. As such, it is quite apparent that the church members were not doing anything of any consequence to Snyder or anyone else at the funeral.
It is also pertinent to mention the fact that during the funeral, Snyder was largely unaware of what the signage the protesters had displayed contained. He allegedly did not even know what the signs said until after the funeral was over. Any emotional distress he incurred due to this protest was after the fact and not even so much as corollary. The church was expressing its dissent with the U.S. Army, not with Snyder or with his son. Therefore, the Snyder had very little basis for his law suit. Furthermore, there was nothing personal about the signs which made them merely an expression of free speech. As such, the Supreme Court and Chief Justice Roberts made the right decision in their ruling.
