Distasteful as it may be, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday by an 8-to-1 decision that Americans have the right under the First Amendment to “even hurtful speech” by those who seek to protest at the funeral of soldiers killed in combat.

The Americano

Distasteful as it may be, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday by an 8-to-1 decision that Americans have the right under the First Amendment to “even hurtful speech” by those who seek to protest at the funeral of soldiers killed in combat.

The case presented by a father’s pain over mocking protests at his Marine son’s funeral pitted his right to grieve privately against those of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, that has enraged many with loud demonstrations contending God is punishing the military for the nation’s tolerance of homosexuality.

The pain of the father lost in this case to the strength with which Supreme Court Justices view the rights granted all Americans under the First Amendment, which as Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. said in his majority opinion, protects “even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate.”

“Speech is powerful,” said Roberts in the majority. “It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and — as it did here — inflict great pain.”

But under the First Amendment, he went on, “we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker.” Instead, the national commitment to free speech, he said, requires protection of “even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate.”

It was not a closely divided decision. Only conservative Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissented.

“In order to have a society in which public issues can be openly and vigorously debated,” he wrote, “it is not necessary to allow the brutalization of innocent victims.”

According to the Associated Press, the decision ended a lawsuit by Albert Snyder, who sued church members for the emotional pain they caused by showing up at his son Matthew’s funeral.

As they have at hundreds of other funerals, the Westboro members held signs with provocative messages, including “Thank God for dead soldiers,” “You’re Going to Hell,” “God Hates the USA/Thank God for 9/11,” and one that combined the U.S. Marine Corps motto, Semper Fi, with the phrase “God Hates Fags.”

According to the majority opinion, the church had the right to free speech because the issue was a valid political issue that “highlighted — the political and moral conduct of the United States and its citizens, the fate of our nation, homosexuality in the military and scandals involving the Catholic clergy — all matters of public import.”

Roberts added that the protestors met a second criteria and that was that it protested on public land, 1,000 feet away from the funeral service, and did so peacefully.

Snyder’s reaction, at a news conference in York, Pa.: “My first thought was, eight justices don’t have the common sense God gave a goat.” He added, “We found out today we can no longer bury our dead in this country with dignity.”

The Americano/Agencies

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