Scores of Long Beach Wilson High School students peacefully counter-protest a hate-filled anti-gay demonstration by members of Westboro Baptist Church Feb. 20, 2010, adjacent to the Long Beach high school. The U.S. Supreme Court has confirmed the constitutionality of staging such anti-gay
protests.
2:05pm | The 1st Amendment protects the rights of anti-gay protesters who demonstrate during the funerals of American soldiers — and, last year, who protested homosexuality at several Long Beach locations — regardless of how pernicious the message, the United States Supreme Court has ruled.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. stated that speech and protests on “matters of public import on public property” that are conducted “in a peaceful manner and in full compliance with local officials” are effectively shielded from tort liability. He added, however, that the funeral demonstrations are “certainly hurtful” and that their contribution to public discourse “may be negligible.”
Today’s 8-1 vote tosses out a lawsuit against Fred Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., filed by the father of a soldier who was killed in Iraq. Maryland’s Albert Snyder buried his son amid the bitter jeers of Phelps and his family, who protested Matthew Snyder’s funeral hoisting signs scrawled with messages like “God Hates Fags” and “Thank God for Dead Soldiers.”
A jury had awarded the father $11 million in damages for the pain and emotional distress he suffered at the hands of the protesters, but today’s ruling nullifies the award.
Because the protesters conducted their demonstrations on public streets and because their messages dealt with the public issues of morality and war, the 1st Amendment shields them from recourse, Roberts said.
Snyder had argued that funerals are not truly public events and that the protests were painful, targeted assaults on a private memorial service.
“On the facts before us, we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker,” Roberts wrote. “As a nation we have chosen a different course — to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate.”
Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. was the lone dissenter. He said Snyder was “not a public figure” but was subjected to “a malevolent personal attack” during a time of deep emotional anguish.
“Our profound national commitment to free and open debate is not a license for the vicious verbal assault that occurred in this case,” Alito wrote.
Westboro Baptist Church certainly seemed to have met its match here in Long Beach just more than a year ago, when its feeble numbers were exponentially bested by more than 4,500 peaceful counter-protesters, almost all of them high school students, demonstrating for tolerance adjacent to Wilson High School.
Various public and elected officials were also on hand during the Feb. 20, 2010, counter-protest, including the city’s two openly gay council members, First District Councilman Robert Garcia and Fifth District Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske. The pair had a couple of days earlier issued a joint statement denouncing Westboro’s plans to spread “anti-gay, anti-Semitic and anti-American views” in a city as diverse as Long Beach.
Long Beach Unified School District Superintendent Chris Steinhauser was also present. He described the experience as “a great day where Long Beach came out to say that hatred is not in the heart of this community.”
Check out the Post’s previous coverage of Westboro Baptist Church’s visit to Long Beach last year:
Long Beach Wilson High Students Drown Out Anti-Gay Protestors
Thoughts On A Protest
Photos & A Message From The Westboro Baptist Church
Councilmembers Garcia & Schipske Denounce Westboro Baptist Church Anti-Gay Protest
Long Beach Dilemma: Protest Or Ignore The Gay Hate?
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Westboro Baptist Church members stage an anti-gay protest at the intersection of Redondo and Willow avenues in February 2010. Photo submitted by Valerie Kelly.