Monday, July 19, 2010

Amicus Briefs In Snyder v. Phelps Now Filed With Supreme Court

Last week, the remainder of the amicus briefs in Snyder v. Phelps were filed with the U.S. Supreme Court. (Links to Briefs from SCOTUS Wiki, plus additional amicus brief not linked there.) In the case, the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the Westboro Baptist Church and its leaders that a $5 million judgment against them growing out of their picketing of the funeral of Iraq veteran Matthew Snyder violated their free speech rights. (See prior posting.) Fifteen amicus briefs have been filed-- 5 supporting Matthew Snyder's family, 7 supporting Westboro Church's rights, and 3 in support of neither party. Yesterday's York (PA) Daily Record reports on why the 7 groups supported Westboro even though they strongly disagreed with the substance of its message.