US Supreme Court allows anti-gay military funeral protests
Westboro Baptist Church has staged protests at the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq and AfghanistanThe US Supreme Court has ruled that a controversial anti-gay church has the right to picket military funerals under by the free speech provision in the US Constitution.
The court ruled 8-1 in favour of the Westboro Baptist Church, which was sued by the father of a dead US Marine.
The court upheld a ruling throwing out a $5m (£3m) judgment to the father.
Chief Justice John Roberts said the Constitution could not be thrown out because "picketing was outrageous".
"What Westboro said, in the whole context of how and where it chose to say it, is entitled to 'special protection' under the First Amendment, and that protection cannot be overcome by a jury finding that the picketing was outrageous," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in opinion for the court.
Church members, led by the Reverend Fred Phelps, have picketed outside numerous military funerals to draw attention to their view that US military deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan are punishment for the immorality of Americans, including tolerance of homosexuality and abortion.
Snyder funeralMatthew Snyder died in Iraq in 2006 and his body was returned to the US state of Maryland for burial, which members of the Westboro Baptist Church picketed.
The protesters marched with signs outside the soldier's funeral that read "Thank God for Dead Soldiers", "You're Going to Hell" and "God Hates the USA/Thank God for 9/11", which forced the funeral procession to alter its route.
Soon after, Albert Snyder, Matthew's father, came across a poem on Westboro Baptist Church's website attacking his son's upbringing.
Mr Snyder then filed a lawsuit accusing the church of intentionally inflicting emotional distress and won $11m at trial, which was later reduced by a judge to $5m.
But a federal appeals court in Virginia threw out the judgement, saying the Constitution shielded the church members from liability.
