Westboro Baptist Church: The First Amendment challenges

The Westboro Baptist Church will be heading the Supreme Court to defend their challenges of the First Amendment’s boundaries. An extreme church known for protests against homosexuality at funerals, colleges and public buildings, the Westboro Baptist Church has faced a wide range of legal challenges.

The case the Supreme Court can be taking on involves Albert Snyder, the father of a U.S. Marine killed in the line of duty. In the first listening to of the case, Albert Snyder was awarded an $ 8 million judgment, an amount Westboro couldn’t pay even with the cheapest personal loans. The main constitutional issue is if the extreme hate speech practiced by Westboro Baptist Church is protected by the First Amendment.

The Westboro Baptist Church

The Westboro Baptist Church was founded in 1955. The Westboro Baptist Church claims affiliation with Primitive Baptist and Calvinist principles, but it is not allied with any Baptist church and most Primitive Baptists reject the Westboro Baptist Church. The Westboro Baptist Church is based in Kansas and will object to anything from funerals to concerts. The Westboro Baptist Church pickets these events to spread their anti-homosexuality, anti-Jewish, anti-religious message. The leaders and members of the Westboro Baptist Church have been specifically banned from entrance to the U.K. for their “unacceptable behavior by inciting hatred”.

Westboro Baptist Church faces legal challenges

The members of Westboro Baptist Church have faced multiple challenges in the courts. WBC has filed free-speech lawsuits against several municipalities, and usually wins. During WBC protests, members have been convicted of trespassing, disorderly conduct, failure to obey police and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Previously, the Supreme Court has allowed lower court rulings to stand.

Albert Snyder’s lawsuit against Westboro Baptist Church

Albert Snyder sued Westboro Baptist Church in 2006, claiming the church demonstrating at his son’s funeral was not protected. The lawsuit alleged that the Westboro Baptist Church violated the Snyder family’s right to privacy, as well as defamation. In the original lawsuit, Snyder was awarded $ 8 million in punitive damages. When the ruling was appealed, the judge reduced the award Snyder would get to $ 2.1 million – payday loans still couldn’t fund the WBC’s payment, though. Westboro had the judgment overturned on federal appeal, and Albert Snyder was ordered to pay the legal fees of the case. In March of 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Albert Snyder’s lawsuit.

Limitations on constitutional free speech

Basically, the Westboro Baptist Church lawsuit comes down to the issue of protected free speech. Not all speech is protected – in Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, the Supreme Court decided that “obscene utterances” could not be protected. Snyder’s family argues that WBC violated their right to religious freedom. The Supreme Court could have to determine which First Amendment right comes first.