Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Supreme Court Considers Protests at Military Funerals

Westboro Baptist Church, a self-described religious group whose members picket the funerals of slain soldiers and shout anti-gay rhetoric. God, according to the fundamentalist group, is angry at the country for not punishing homosexuality and smites its soldiers and marines in retribution

The Supreme Court, which began a new term this week, will take up as one of its first items of business the case of Albert Snyder, the father of a slain soldier, who sued Fred Phelps, the leader of the Kansas-based church, for intentional infliction of emotional distress.

a jury awarded Snyder $11 million, which a judge later reduced to $5 million. But the verdict was reversed on appeal, and it will now be adjudicated at the high court, where it provides an unusual case for the justices to demarcate the frontiers of freedom of speech.

Click on the following for more details:  Supreme Court Considers Protests at Military Funerals - US News and World Report

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