Do Funeral Protestors Deserve Protection?

Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church protesters, now nationally infamous for waving hateful signs at military funerals, may sound crazy but they're not stupid. Not totally.

They've battled all the way to the Supreme Court for their right to be jerks at other people's funerals, but not in ways that obviously defy the law — even as they defy common decency.

Last week, the high court heard arguments in a suit brought against the Kansas-based church by the family of the late Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, at whose 2006 funeral in Maryland the Westboro members traveled more than 1,000 miles to protest. The family was awarded $5 million in damages from the church in district court, but an appeals court overturned that judgment.

Seven protesters at Snyder's funeral in Westminster, Md., waved signs with loathsome phrases like "You're going to hell," "God hates f--s" and "Thank God for 9/11."

Why do they do it? When you try to sort out the reasons given by this little congregation, mostly made up of Phelps' relatives, rational thought seems to take a holiday. They say they somehow think God is punishing troops for America's tolerance of homosexuality, even though Snyder was not gay.

When a Time magazine reporter asked Phelps why he goes after mourners, he said, "Because they need me." Right. Like the hole in his soul.

As a legal matter, the Supreme Court is largely left to judge the content of their speech — which, as bizarre and hateful as it sounds, does deal in its own perverted way with current social and political issues.

It is often folly to try to predict decisions by the Supreme Court, whose justices seem to delight in being unpredictable. The Constitution protects free speech and free thought, but somebody has to draw a line when free speech becomes a not-very-subtle form of personal assault.

E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@tribune.com, or write to him c/o Tribune Media Services, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, NY 14207.

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