The First Amendment prevailed today, in the Supreme Court’s 8-to-1 decision that hateful protests at military funerals are protected. According to Chief Justice Roberts, the court’s decision in the Snyder v. Phelps case, hinged on two factors: that the speech in question focused on a matter of public concern, and that the members of Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church had the right to be where they were. The case stemmed from the funeral of Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder, an event at which members of Phelps’ church picketed with anti-gay signs.
Read more about the Court’s decision in today’s New York Times.
Learn more about the First Amendment at the Illinois First Amendment Center.
Or study up on the Constitution at the Moraine Valley Library.