The Supreme Court decided 8-1 that the First Amendment gives the Westboro Baptist Church the right to hold anti-gay protests near military funerals, rendering their decision on Tuesday, March 3.
The Court also dismissed a $5 million judgment for the father of a dead Marine, who sued church members after they picketed his son's funeral. The Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church have protested many funerals to publicize their belief that the deaths of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq are punishment for Americans’ immorality, tolerance of homosexuality and abortion.
Justice Ginsburg said that this is a case of exploiting a family’s grief and doubted that the church members’ actions are protected by the First Amendment. The Court heard this case on October 6, 2010.