Some Claims Against Westboro Baptist Church Funeral Picketers Dismissed

Baltimore, Maryland federal district judge Richard Bennett yesterday dismissed defamation and invasion of privacy claims brought against the Westboro Baptist Church by the father of a Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder who was killed in Iraq. However plaintiff was permitted to proceed on two other claims against the Church, its leader Rev. Fred Phelps and his two daughters who have gone around the country picketing veterans' funerals with signs protesting US tolerance of homosexuality. The Baltimore Sun described the court's holding:

In granting part of the defendants' motion for summary judgment, Bennett found church members did not defame Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder or his family by implying [in postings on the Church's website] that he was gay or raised by adulterers because his parents divorced. Nor did the church members invade the family's privacy, the judge ruled, because their anti-gay and anti- divorce accusations were based on a general expression of the church members' fundamentalist beliefs.

At the civil trial set to begin Monday in federal court, the jury will be able consider whether Westboro Baptist Church is liable for an intentional infliction of emotional distress based on the message from its members' signs, Bennett said. The judge also will allow jurors to decide whether the Snyder family's expectation of privacy at Matthew Snyder's funeral was violated by the church members' protest outside St. John Roman Catholic Church in Westminster.

Also reporting on the decision, WBALTV said that Church members will "argue their protests are covered by free-speech protections, but acknowledged in court Monday that they had a hard time finding experts to take their side for next week's trial." (See prior related postings, 1, 2, 3.)