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Jacksonville State University

Snyder v. Phelps

Court Case Study

Alissa Camplin

COM 380:001

Augustine Ihator

11 April 2017
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CONTENTS

Brief Case Description.....................................................3

Background on Litigants..................................................5

In-Depth Case Description...............................................9

U.S. District Court, D. Maryland.....11

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.....14

U.S. Supreme Court..............................................15

Importance of Case.........................................................17

Personal Critique.............................................................19

Reference Page................................................................20
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Alissa Camplin

Augustine Ihator

COM 380:001

11 April 2017

BRIEF CASE DESCRIPTION

Members of the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), founded by Fred Phelps,

picketed the funeral of a gay fallen soldier (Matthew A. Snyder) on public land

adjacent to a public street behind a temporary fence, approximately 1,000 feet

away from the church where the soldiers funeral was being held. Several

buildings separated the picket site from the church. The WBC notified the

authorities in advance of its intent to picket, and complied with police instructions.

The picketers held signs with messages such as America is Doomed, Thank

God for Dead Soldiers, God Hates Fags, Priests Rape Boys, Youre Going to

Hell, and God Hates You for about 30 minutes before the funeral began and

sang hymns and recited Bible verses. They did not yell or use profanity, and there

was no violence associated with the picketing. The funeral procession passed

within 200 to 300 feet of the picket site and Snyder, the soldiers father, could see

the tops of picket signs as he drove to the funeral, but did not see what was written

on the signs until seeing them on the news later that night. Snyder sued Phelps and
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the WBC for defamation, publicity given to private life, intentional inflictions of

emotional distress, intrusion upon seclusion, and civil conspiracy. The district

court granted WBC summary judgment on the defamation and publicity given to

private life claims. A jury found for Snyder on the remaining claims. The Fourth

Circuit reversed, holding that WBCs speech was protected by the First

Amendment. Furthermore, the US Supreme Court upheld the ruling of the Fourth

Circuit.
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BACKGROUND ON LITIGANTS

Albert Snyder, petitioner, is the father of Marine Lance Corporal Matthew

Snyder, aged 20, who was killed during duty on March 3, 2006 in Iraq. According

to MilitaryTimes.com, Snyder was killed during a non-combat related vehicle

accident. He had been enlisted since October 14, 2003.

Matthew Snyder and family were from Westminster, Maryland. He was the

middle of three children with sisters Sarah and Tracie Snyder. His parents were

father Albert Snyder and mother Julie Snyder. Julie Snyders sister, Cathy

Menefee, spoke on behalf of the family, saying, It sounds so clich, but he died

doing what he wanted to doHe always wanted to be a Marine, ("Marine Lance

Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder.). Menefee also spoke about Matthew Snyders

unwavering sense of responsibility, which influenced his decision to join the

military.

Matthew Snyder also enjoyed fishing and intramural sports. David Brown,

the assistant principal at Westminster High School where Matthew graduated, said,

Ive known him as a much younger child, and as a high school student, so its

difficult. You see faces and you hear on TV, but its always kind of distant until it

comes home. And now its home, ("Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder.).
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Fred W. Phelps, Sr., and et all, respondent, was the party sued in this case.

This et all included Fred W. Phelps, his two daughters that participated in the

picketing, and the church of Westboro Baptist. The founder and head pastor was

the late Fred W. Phelps.

Fred W. Phelps was born on November 13, 1929 in Meridian, Mississippi.

He graduated with highest honors from Meridian High School at age 16 (Brief

Bio of Pastor Fred Phelps."). After high school, he had been admitted to the

United States Military Academy at West Point but, instead, had a profound

religious experience and decided to devote himself to evangelism (Paulson).

Phelps married Margie Marie Simms in 1952, and in 1954, the couple

moved to Topeka. Phelps established Westboro Baptist in 1955. Together, the

couple had thirteen children, fifty-four grandchildren, and seven great-

grandchildren (Brief Bio of Pastor Fred Phelps."). Nine children agree with their

father, but the remaining four admit to being disgusted by their familys

behavior. One son, Nathan, went as far as to say that their father created an

abusive and controlling environment growing up ("Westboro Baptist Church.").

Phelps raised his family near the church and, to this day, most family members and

members of the congregation live in a compound together. Their houses form a

box and share a large backyard.

Phelps earned a law degree in 1964 from Washburn University School of

Law, but his legal career was doomed from the beginning. The Southern Poverty

Law Center described Westboro Baptist as arguably the most obnoxious and rabid

hate group in America, ("Westboro Baptist Church."). Phelps had trouble finding

peers or colleagues to attest for his good character when he wanted to be admitted

to the bar. He also faced trouble like being temporarily suspended for professional

misconduct and was sued over an incident which included him failing to pay for

candy that his children sold door-to-door.

He did, however, have success winning settlements in discrimination cases

and regularly practiced as a civil rights lawyer.

In 1964, Phelps founded a law firm named Phelps-Chartered that represents

the church in its civil suits. All five of the firms attorneys are children of Phelps.

In 1979, Phelps was disbarred in Kansas for professional misconduct in an

event unrelated to the candy incident. In 1989, Phelps had been accused of

professional misconduct by nine federal judges and agreed to halt any legal

practices in federal courts. The Kansas Supreme Court stated during this time that

Phelps showed little regard for the ethics of his profession, ("Westboro Baptist

Church.").

The church began to gain public attention in June 1991, when they began

picketing. The church claims to have picketed almost 60,000 times since then
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(Brief Bio of Pastor Fred Phelps."). The pickets seem to come at random and for

any reason. A Justin Bieber concert was picketed because the artist was not using

his fame to promote the Gospel of Christ. Other targets have included Lady Gaga,

Sonny Bono, and even a restaurant because the owner knowingly employed a

lesbian ("Westboro Baptist Church.").

An interesting fact about the congregation is that they provide their own

funding. Westboro Baptist does not ask for donations and will not accept them.

The church makes most of their money from winning or settling civil lawsuits.

Because the Phelps family represents the Westboro Baptist Church in court, they

can put the fees they win to support the church (Paulson).
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IN-DEPTH CASE DESCRIPTION

Factual Background

The funeral was conducted at St. Johns Catholic Church in Westminster,

Maryland. In addition to signs that said, You are going to hell, God hates fags,

and Thank God for dead soldiers, the Westboro Baptist Church posted an epic

on their website entitled The Burden of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder in

the weeks after his funeral. This epic consisted of beliefs that Snyder had been

raised for the devil and taught to defy God ("SNYDER v. PHELPS | 533

F.Supp.2d 567 (2008)."). Snyder argued that the Westboro Baptist Church

purposefully turned the funeral for his son into a media circus for their benefit,

("SNYDER v. PHELPS | 533 F.Supp.2d 567 (2008)."). Albert Snyder sued Fred

Phelps et al for deformation, intrusion upon seclusion, publicity given to private

life, internal infliction of emotional distress, and civil conspiracy (Snyder v.

Phelps.). WBC fought to have defamation and publicity given to private life

claims dropped, and they were.

The defamation count was dropped. In Maryland, the guidelines for

defamation are:

(1) that Defendants made a defamatory

(2) that the statement was false,

(3) that Defendants were at fault in communicating

the statement, and

(4) that Plaintiff suffered harm. This Court,

held that the first element, a defamatory communication,

was not satisfied because the content of the "epic"

posted on the church's website was essentially

Phelps-Roper's religious opinion and would

not realistically tend to expose Snyder to public

hatred or scorn. ("SUPREME COURT OF THE

UNITED STATES.").

As to the publicity given to private life claim, the Court decided that no

information had been made public by WBC. Information like Phelpss parents

divorce and his Catholicism were published in his obituary ("SNYDER v. PHELPS

| 533 F.Supp.2d 567 (2008).").

UnitedStatesDistrictCourt,D.Maryland.

This case proceeded to trial before a jury on October 22, 2007 on three

counts intrusion upon seclusion, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and

civil conspiracy. In serving its $10.9 million verdict for Snyder, the jury found that

the Westboro Baptist Churchs conduct was outrageous, causing severe emotional

distress to Snyder and their family, and that there was an unwarranted invasion of

privacy highly offensive to a reasonable person. Westboro Baptist said this was

grossly excessive, and motions for a Remittitur were denied in part and granted

in part. Applying state common law standards, this Court upholds the verdict of

the jury and the compensatory damage award of $2.9 million. However, under both

federal constitutional and state common law standards, this Court reduces the total

punitive damages award against all Snyder to $2.1 million. Accordingly, the total

award of damages in this case was reduced to $5 million ("SNYDER v. PHELPS |

533 F.Supp.2d 567 (2008).").

It was undisputed at trial that the WBC complied with local ordinances and

police directions with respect to being a certain distance from the church. It was

also established at trial that Snyder did not actually see the signs. He saw a

television program later that night with footage of the Phelps family at his son's

funeral. Because of the past problems stemming from the Westboro Baptist

Church's demonstrations at military funerals, this notice resulted in increased

police presence and media coverage at Lance Cpl. Snyder's funeral. Defendants

cannot transform a private funeral into a public event and then bootstrap their

position by arguing that Matthew Snyder was a public figure, (Snyder v. Phelps).

By their own actions, WBC also created an atmosphere of confrontation. This

atmosphere was created by signs carrying both a general message as well as signs

that could reasonably be interpreted as being directed at the Snyder family (Snyder

v. Phelps).

Even so, Snyder testified about the emotional and physical distress that the WBC

caused to him through the picketing at his funeral and the epic posted on their

website. Snyder said he cried for three hours and threw up, ("SUPREME

COURT OF THE UNITED STATES."). The emotional distress is unwavering, as

well. Snyder testified this to the permanency of the emotional injury:

He testified that I think about the signs [i.e., Thank God

for dead soldiers] every day of my life.... I see that sign

when I lay in bed at nights. I [had] one chance to bury

my son and they took the dignity away from it. I cannot

re-bury my son. And for the rest of my life, I will

remember what they did to me and it has tarnished

the memory of my son's last hour on earth. He stated

also that somebody could have stabbed me in the arm

or in the back and the wound would have healed. But

I don't think this will heal, (Snyder v. Phelps).

Judge Richard D. Bennett for the United States District Court for the District of

Maryland stated that the First Amendment protection of free speech has limits,

including vulgar, offensive and shocking statements, and that the jury must decide

"whether the defendant's actions would be highly offensive to a reasonable person,

whether they were extreme and outrageous and whether these actions were so

offensive and shocking as to not be entitled to First Amendment protection,"

("SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES.").

US Court of Appeals, Fourth Court

Westboro Baptist Church appealed this decision, and a second hearing was

heard on September 24, 2009. The Fourth Circuit ruled that the lower court had

made an error by instructing the jury to decide a question of law rather than fact

(more specifically, whether or not the speech in question was protected by the First

Amendment). It also ruled that the protest signs and language on WBC's website

were rhetorical hyperbole and figurative expression, rather than assertions of fact,

so they were a form of protected speech ("Snyder v. Phelps, 580 F.3d 206, 4th Cir.

(2009)."). On March 30, 2010, the Court further ordered Albert Snyder to pay the

court costs for the defendants, an amount totaling $16,510. People all over the

country, including political commentator Bill O'Reilly agreed to cover the costs,

pending appeal. O'Reilly also pledged to support all of Snyder's future court costs

against the Phelps. A writ of certiorari was filed on March 8, 2010 ("Snyder v.

Phelps."). US Supreme Court

With a vote of 8-1, it was decided on March 2, 2011 that the lower court

ruling would stand. The Supreme Court's holding turned largely on its

determination that the church was speaking on "matters of public concern" as

opposed to "matters of purely private significance," ("Snyder v. Phelps."). The

Court explained that "[s]peech deals with matters of public concern when it can 'be

fairly considered as relating to any matter of political, social, or other concern to

the community' or when it 'is a subject of general interest and of value and concern
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to the public,'" ("SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES."). Speech on

public issues is entitled to special protection under the First Amendment because it

serves "the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and

wide-open." To determine whether the speech dealt with matters of public concern,

the Court examined the "content, form, and context" of the speech. The court noted

that none of these factors determines the outcome of the case and that a court must

evaluate all the circumstances of the speech, "including what was said, where it

was said, and how it was said," (Snyder v. Phelps).

Even though some of the picket signs seemingly targeted specifically the

Snyder family, most of them addressed issues regarding the moral conduct of the

U.S., the fate of the U.S., and homosexuality in the military. As such, the "overall

thrust and dominant theme" of the speech related to broader public issues ("Snyder

v. Phelps."). Furthermore, the church was picketing on public land adjacent to a

public street. Finally, there was no pre-existing relationship between Westboro's

speech and Snyder that might suggest that the speech on public matters was

intended to mask an attack on Snyder over a private matter. Therefore, the Court

held that the Phelps and his followers were "speaking" on matters of public

concern on public property and thus, were entitled to protection under the First

Amendment ("SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES.").

IMPORTANCE OF CASE

This case was very important in its ruling that was more significant for its

drama rather than legal impact. As deeply troubling as the actions of the WBC

were, the invasion of privacy is not compelling enough to curb the members

speech in the same way that defamation, child pornography, or falsely shouting

fire! in a crowd could be.

The Supreme Court ultimately decided that because the signs used

constituted speech of public concern on public property and in a peaceful manner

were in full compliance of the law and law officials.

"The placards highlighted issues of public import -- the political and moral

conduct of the United States and its citizens, the fate of the nation, homosexuality

in the military and scandals involving the Catholic clergy -- and Westboro

conveyed its views on those issues in a manner designed to reach as broad a public

audience as possible," said the Supreme Court ("SUPREME COURT OF THE

UNITED STATES.").

The court noted Westboro obeyed the law in exercising its right to picket the

funeral, and its public message overrode any emotional injury Snyder may have

sustained. While the justices were sympathetic to and acknowledged Snyder's

suffering, they held firm in protecting the First Amendment.

"Speech is powerful. It can stir people to action, move

them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and -- as it did

here -- inflict great pain. On the facts before us, we

cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker. 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, (Robins).

Only one judge disagreed. It was Justice Samuel Alito. He said that

unprotected speech, even when mixed with permissible words, is still actionable,

saying: "The First Amendment allows recovery for defamatory statements that are

interspersed with non-defamatory statements on matters of public concern, and

there is no good reason why respondents' attack on Matthew Snyder and his family

should be treated differently," (Robins).

PERSONAL CRITIQUE

I personally believe that this case was ultimately ruled incorrectly. There is

a certain level of humanity and decency that was ignored. I feel like the Westboro

Baptist Church winning multiple court cases just give them power that we, as

Americans, try to fight against.

There are national anti-bullying campaigns that teach children and adults

alike the importance of judging someone based on their character, not their sexual

orientation, skin color, or otherwise. Westboro Baptist makes an honest living

off a platform built on hate, disgust, unacceptance, and assumptions. I believe that

a church built on such principles should be forced to pay the consequences of their

actions. They ruin peoples lives and, according to their website, do not lose a

nanosecond of sleep over the feelings of those who are affected.

I disagree with this case and most of its entirety, and I hope that one day

Westboro Baptist Church sees the harm they inflict and turn away to the

abomination that they are, rather than the filth they spew.
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WORKS CITED

Brief Bio of Pastor Fred Phelps." Brief Biography of Westboro Baptist Church

Pastor Fred Phelps. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2017.

<http://www.godhatesfags.com/wbcinfo/phelpsbio.html>.

"Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder." Honor The Fallen. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Apr.

2017. <http://thefallen.militarytimes.com/marine-lance-cpl-matthew-a-

snyder/1582584>.

Paulson, Michael. "Fred Phelps, Anti-Gay Preacher Who Targeted Military

Funerals, Dies at 84." The New York Times. The New York Times, 20 Mar.

2014. Web. 1 Apr. 2017. <https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/21/us/fred-

phelps-founder-of-westboro-baptist-church-dies-at-84.html>.

Robbins, Harriet. "Snyder vs. Phelps: Supreme Court Protects Hateful Speech near

Funeral." UPI. UPI, 06 Mar. 2011. Web. 1 Apr. 2017. <http://www.upi.com/-

Snyder-vs-Phelps-Supreme-Court-protects-hateful-speech-near-

funeral/58271299402300/>.

"Snyder v. Phelps, 580 F.3d 206, 4th Cir. (2009)." Scribd. Scribd, n.d. Web. 11 Apr.

2017. <https://www.scribd.com/document/321241410/Snyder-v-Phelps-580-

F-3d-206-4th-Cir-2009>

"SNYDER v. PHELPS | 533 F.Supp.2d 567 (2008)." Leagle. United States District

Court, D. Maryland., 04 Feb. 2008. Web. 11 Apr. 2017.

<http://www.leagle.com/decision/20081100533FSupp2d567_11043/SNYDE

R%20v.%20PHELPS>.

Snyder v. Phelps, 533 F. Supp. 2d 567, 577 (D. Md. 2008), rev'd, 580 F.3d 206 (4th

Cir. 2009), aff'd, 562 U.S. 443, 131 S. Ct. 1207, 179 L. Ed. 2d 172 (2011)

"Snyder v. Phelps." Oyez, https://www.oyez.org/cases/2010/09-751. Accessed 1

Apr. 2017. < https://www.oyez.org/cases/2010/09-751>

"SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES." Journal (American Water

Works Association) 29.5 (1937): 699-713. SUPREME COURT OF THE

UNITED STATES. Web. 01 Apr. 2017.

<https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/10pdf/09-751.pdf>.

"Westboro Baptist Church." Southern Poverty Law Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr.

2017. <https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-

files/group/westboro-baptist-church>.

Visual Aid: Supreme Court protects funeral protests by CBS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM6ZzEwJJs0