Editing Fred Phelps (section)

===Lawsuit against Westboro Baptist Church===
{{main|Snyder v. Phelps}}
On March 10, 2006, WBC picketed the funeral of [[United States Marine Corps|Marine]] [[Lance Corporal]] Matthew A. Snyder, who died in combat in [[Iraq]] on March 3, 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-funeral-protests9-2010mar09,0,4930374.story|title=Supreme Court to Hear Case on Protests|last=Savage|first=David|date=March 9, 2010|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=December 11, 2012}}</ref><ref name="phelps_dies_2014_03_20_wichita_eagle" /> The Snyder family sued Fred Phelps for [[defamation]], [[invasion of privacy]], and [[intentional infliction of emotional distress]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8673839.stm| title=Supreme Court: Kagan's philosophy hard to define|last=Connolly|first=Katie|date=May 10, 2010|work=[[BBC Online]]|access-date=December 11, 2012}}</ref><ref name="phelps_dies_2014_03_20_wichita_eagle" />

On October 31, 2007, WBC, Fred Phelps and his two daughters, Shirley Phelps-Roper and Rebekah Phelps-Davis, were found liable for invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress. A federal jury awarded Snyder's father $2.9 million in compensatory damages, then later added a decision to award $6 million in [[punitive damages]] for invasion of privacy and an additional $2 million for causing emotional distress (a total of $10.9 million).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/topstories/2007-10-31-3928600499_x.htm|title=Jury awards father $11M in funeral case|date=November 1, 2007|work=[[USA Today]]|agency =The Associated Press|access-date=December 11, 2012}}</ref><ref name="phelps_dies_2014_03_20_wichita_eagle" />

The lawsuit named Albert Snyder, father of Matthew Snyder, as the plaintiff, and Fred W. Phelps Sr., Westboro Baptist Church, Inc., Rebekah Phelps-Davis, and Shirley Phelps-Roper as defendants, alleging that they were responsible for publishing defamatory information about the Snyder family on the Internet, including statements that Albert and his wife had "raised [Matthew] for [[the devil]]" and taught him "to defy his Creator, to divorce, and to commit [[adultery]]". Other statements denounced them for raising their son Catholic. Snyder further complained the defendants had intruded upon and staged protests at his son's funeral. The claims of invasion of privacy and defamation arising from comments posted about Snyder on the Westboro website were dismissed on [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] grounds, but the case proceeded to trial on the remaining three counts.<ref>{{Cite web|title=SNYDER v. PHELPS - 533 F.Supp.2d 567 (2008) - p2d56711043 - Leagle.com|url=https://www.leagle.com/decision/20081100533fsupp2d56711043|access-date=2021-06-27|website=Leagle|language=en}}</ref>

Albert Snyder, the father of LCpl Matthew A. Snyder, testified:

{{blockquote|They turned this funeral into a media circus and they wanted to hurt my family. They wanted their message heard and they didn't care who they stepped over. My son should have been buried with dignity, not with a bunch of clowns outside.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.newsline.umd.edu/justice/westboro-supreme-court-030211.htm|title=Supreme Court Upholds Anti-Gay Church's Protest Rights in Md. Case|last=Marso|first=Andy|date=March 2, 2011|work=Maryland Newsline|access-date=December 22, 2012}}</ref>}}

In his instructions to the jury, U.S. District Judge [[Richard D. Bennett]] 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". (see also ''[[Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire]]'', a case in which certain personal slurs and obscene utterances by an individual were found unworthy of First Amendment protection, due to the potential for violence resulting from their utterance). WBC sought a [[mistrial (law)|mistrial]] based on alleged prejudicial statements made by the judge and violations of the [[gag order]] by the plaintiff's attorney. An appeal was also sought by the WBC. On February 4, 2008, Bennett upheld the ruling but reduced the punitive damages from $8 million to $2.1 million. The total judgment then stood at $5 million. Court [[lien]]s were ordered on church buildings and Phelps' law office in an attempt to ensure that the damages were paid.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2004164853_apfuneralprotests05.html|title=Damages Reduced in Funeral Protest Case|date=February 5, 2008|work=The Seattle Times|agency=The Associated Press|access-date=December 11, 2012}}</ref>

An appeal by WBC was heard on September 24, 2009. The [[federal appeals court]] ruled in favor of Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church, stating that their picket near the funeral of LCpl Matthew A. Snyder is protected speech and did not violate the privacy of the service member's family, reversing the lower court's $5 million judgment. On March 30, 2010, the federal appeals court ordered Albert Snyder to pay the [[court costs]] for the Westboro Baptist Church, an amount totaling $16,510.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/29/father-of-dead-marine-ord_n_517614.html|title=Father of Dead Marine Ordered To Pay Legal Fees of Westboro Baptist Church Protesters|date=May 29, 2010|work=[[The Huffington Post]]|agency=The Associated Press|access-date=December 11, 2012}}</ref> [[Pundit (expert)|Political commentator]] [[Bill O'Reilly (political commentator)|Bill O'Reilly]] agreed on March 30 to cover the costs, pending appeal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/04/marine_scotus_040510w|title=Snyder-Phelps Fight has Many Twists, Turns|last=Lamothe|first=Dan|date=April 5, 2010|work=Marine Corps Times|access-date=December 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130324031812/http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/04/marine_scotus_040510w|archive-date=March 24, 2013}}</ref>

A [[writ of certiorari]] was granted on an appeal to the [[Supreme Court of the United States]], and the oral argument for the case took place on October 6, 2010. Margie Phelps, one of Fred Phelps' children, represented the Westboro Baptist Church.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna39531700|title=Court Hears 'Thank God for Dead Soldiers' Case|date=October 6, 2010|work=[[MSN]]|agency=The Associated Press|access-date=December 11, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120919215544/http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/39531700/ns/politics/|archive-date=September 19, 2012}}</ref>

The Court ruled in favor of Phelps in an 8–1 decision, holding that the protesters' speech related to a public issue, and was disseminated on a public sidewalk. Chief Justice [[John Roberts]] wrote, for the majority, "As a nation we have chosen ... to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate." Justice [[Samuel Alito]], the lone dissenter, wrote, "Our profound national commitment to free and open debate is not a license for the vicious verbal assault that occurred in this case."<ref name="snyder_v_phelps_us_supreme_court_ruling">{{citation|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/10pdf/09-751.pdf|title=Snyder v. Phelps et al.|last=Supreme Court of the United States|date=March 2, 2011|access-date=December 12, 2012}}</ref>