Why does westboro church hate soldiers

Albert Snyder sued the Phelpses for intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, and civil conspiracy.

The Fourth U. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed on appeal. The U. Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. He also emphasized that the protestors conducted themselves peacefully on public streets pursuant to police directives and followed the laws.

David L. Hudson, Jr. This article was originally published in Collins, Ronald K. Hudson Jr. Hudson, David L. Alvarez, Lizette. Liptak, Adam.

Updated December The bills are paid by the family, which includes 10 lawyers among Mr Phelps's 13 children. Three of his offspring have broken ties with the family. One, his daughter Dortha, told the Knight Ridder news agency: "I felt like I was being controlled, and I didn't have any freedom.

Before the new laws were passed, several thousand bikers, many of them Vietnam veterans, formed a group calling itself the Patriot Guard Riders, to attend military funerals and form a cordon around the protesters to shield them from view of the mourners, and to drown out their shouts by revving their engines.

Mr Phelps seems to relish the fury he stirs. He likes to quote from the Gospel according to St Luke: "Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the son of man's sake. Anti-gay church hounds military funerals. It's really what the first amendment is all about.

American Civil Liberties Union legal director Steve Shapiro said the court rightfully and respectfully acknowledged the Snyder family's grief. A coalition of military families, including those who've lost loved ones in the line of duty, and their supporters passionately disagreed. It's nothing stopping Westboro from going to your daughter's wedding because they think the Catholic Church is bad. And these justices, they don't have to worry about this because the Westboro church and any other nut job like this will not get near their family or their funeral," he said.

It's us that have to worry about it. John Ellsworth, whose son was killed in Iraq and heads the group Military Families United, said the court's decision is ironic since the church members are exercising a right that military service members are fighting and dying to protect. Military "families deserve the respect of a grateful nation, not hate from a group who chooses to demonstrate during the funeral of their loved one," he said. Former Alaska Gov.