Middle Finger to God
unprecedented.substack.com
Mar 24, 2022 • 35M
Middle Finger to God
Do we have the right to hurl hateful invective at a private citizen?
Appears in this episode
Matthew S. Schwartz
Michael Vuolo
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Episode details
6 comments
When Albert Snyder arrived for the funeral service of his son Matthew, a young Marine who died in the Iraq War, he was surprised by the noise and chaos that greeted him. Seven members of the Westboro Baptist Church — which believes that U.S. military casualties are a result of God’s anger at an America that embraces sin — were picketing the funeral, holding signs with messages like “Thank God for Dead Soldiers.” Snyder sued Westboro for intentional infliction of emotional distress, and the Supreme Court had to decide: Does the First Amendment protect hurtful speech directed at a private citizen?
Middle Finger to God
Yes, but injured parties have the right to pursue remedies for the harm they do with that speech.
Super interesting episode! I am curious why Snyder's legal team decided to argue with a view to the outrageous behavior of the Westboro protestors rather than their own voliated rights to speech. It sounds like the protestors were both seen and heard (despite what Marge told the Justices). Surely one's right to speech stops when it infringes on the speech of another?