Supreme Court Set to Hear Arguments on Protests at Military Funerals
Are Protesters Protected by First Amendment?
The case has attracted a flurry of friend-of-the-court briefs on both sides. Lawyers for the 40 states which have passed laws regulating protests at funerals, have weighed in on Snyder's behalf.
"The States should be accorded their traditionally recognized police powers to adopt and enforce reasonable time, place, and manner regulations on activities that may disrupt funerals, and to define civil tort liability for conduct that intentionally inflicts emotional distress and invades sacred privacy interests," said the brief, written by the Attorney General Steve Six of Kansas, who was joined by the other states.
The American Civil Liberties Union, however, has weighed in on behalf of the free speech concerns of the Phelps and their church. In court papers, lawyers for the ACLU wrote, the " First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and the free exercise of religion are designed to protect the right of speakers to voice their views on matters of public concern and to express their religious convictions."
The case is called Snyder v. Phelps.
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