PRESS RELEASE U.S. Supreme Court · July 16, 2010 · Privacy
Media groups files brief in military funeral protesters case
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and 21 media organizations filed a friend-of-the-court brief this week asking the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm a Fourth Circuit ruling that cited the First Amendment in reversing a judgment in favor of a fallen soldier’s father who had sued funeral protesters.
|
|
The case, Snyder v. Phelps, began after the Westboro Baptist Church organized a protest at the funeral of U.S. Marine Matthew Snyder, who was killed in the line of duty. The group complied with local regulations, but Albert Snyder field a lawsuit based on the display of signs such as “Thank God for Dead Soldiers,” “God Hates Fags,” and “You’re Going to Hell,” and the publication of an Internet diatribe that included statements about Matthew Snyder.
The U.S. District Court in Maryland ruled that the conduct constituted intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy by intrusion upon seclusion and conspiracy. TheU.S. Court of Appeals (4th Cir.) reversed, finding that the speech involved a matter of public concern.
The organizations argued that regardless of the nature of the speech at issue in this case, the standard adopted by the federal judge at trial would impose severe liability for controversial speech about matters of public concern.
The media groups asked the Supreme Court to affirm the appellate court's decision, arguing that while “most reasonable people would consider the funeral protests conducted by members of the Westboro Baptist Church to be inexplicable and hateful,” the court would not be able to establish a workable standard that would both protect speech interests yet exclude the Westboro protesters from First Amendment protection.
The brief also argued that the case may have important constitutional ramifications for reporters, as the media has no protection above that of the average speaker: "A ruling to the contrary in this case would have far-reaching effects on the media and other speakers, because the Westboro Baptist Church protests are not unique in any constitutionally meaningful sense."
The brief was submitted by the Reporters Committee, ALM Media, LLC, The American Society of News Editors, The Associated Press, The Association of American Publishers, Inc., Bloomberg L.P., The Citizen Media Law Project, Dow Jones & Company, Inc., The E.W. Scripps Company, The First Amendment Coalition, The First Amendment Project, The Hearst Corporation, The Media Institute, The National Press Club, The National Press Photographers Association, The New York Times Company, Newspaper Association of America, The Newspaper Guild – CWA, NPR, Inc., The Radio Television Digital News Association, The Society of Professional Journalists, and Tribune Company.
The brief was written by a team of lawyers led by Robert Corn-Revere of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP in Washington, D.C.
— Posted at 3:09 pm
Comments: (3)
Comment by R. Thomas, Vietnam Veteran, Sat, Jul 17, 1:06pm
Take pictures of the protesters and broadcast them on the internet for all to see. Perhaps some one will take positive action against the thoughtless thugs.
Comment by Tom DiStefano, Mon, Jul 19, 3:16pm
I must agree with the RCPF, however, Westboro Baptist's actual intent is not expression, but to incite attacks, physical and legal, upon themselves so they may then file suit for monetary damages. This is not a matter of expressing offensive opinions; it is actually a money scam by Phelps and his followers.
Comment by ellie USMC~served, Thu, Aug 12, 10:59am
Im sorry but this is Treason in my eyes, you want to protest a Fallen Comrade in arms funeral, They fight for this stupid anarchy you do as with the idiots that burn the flag, you dont like it, MOVE to a new county, Treason is punishable by Death, Throw them in Jail and then Let me fight with my brothers to be the first in line to Fire the SHOT!!! Sick...what do you teach your children about being a Patriot?
Submit a comment
• RSS feed
News categories:
News keywords: