Westboro Church says funeral protests are protected
Copyright 2010 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Posted: 07/08/2010
BALTIMORE - The fundamentalist church that picketed the funeral of a Marine killed in Iraq says its actions are constitutionally protected.
An attorney for the Westboro Baptist Church submitted a 75-page brief to the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday. Albert Snyder is suing the church, claiming that the First Amendment did not allow the protesters to disrupt his right to peacefully assemble for his son's funeral.
Westboro founder Fred Phelps and six of his relatives protested the 2006 funeral of Snyder's son in Maryland, carrying signs that read "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" and "You're Going to Hell."
The church believes U.S. military deaths are God's punishment for tolerance of homosexuality.
The church argues that it did not disrupt the funeral in part because its protest was 1,000 feet away from the church, on a public street.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Copyright 2010 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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