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WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court ruled weekday that a grieving father's discompose over playful protests at his serviceman son's funeral must yield to First Amendment protections for liberated speech. All but digit justice sided with a Protestantism faith that has excited ire with raucous demonstrations contending God is punishing the military for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.

The 8-1 decision in souvenir of the Westboro Baptistic Church of Topeka, Kan., was the stylish in a distinction of suite rulings that, as Chief Justice John revivalist said in his instrument for the court, protects "even harmful style on unstoppered issues to secure that we do not stifle unstoppered debate."

The decision ended a lawsuit by Albert Snyder, who sued faith members for the emotive discompose they caused by showing up at his son Matthew's funeral. As they hit at hundreds of another funerals, the Westboro members held signs with agitating messages, including "Thank God for departed soldiers," `'You're Going to Hell," `'God Hates the USA/Thank God for 9/11," and digit that combined the U.S. serviceman Corps motto, Semper Fi, with a slur against merry men.

Justice Samuel Alito, the unaccompanied dissenter, said Snyder wanted exclusive to "bury his son in peace." Instead, Alito said, the protesters "brutally attacked" Gospels Snyder to attract unstoppered attention. "Our profound domestic dedication to liberated and unstoppered speaking is not a authorise for the vicious verbal move that occurred in this case," he said.

The ruling, though, was in distinction with some earlier suite decisions that said the First Amendment exists to protect burly speaking on unstoppered issues and liberated expression, no matter how distasteful. A assemblage ago, the justices struck downbound a federal forbiddance on videos that exhibit graphic hostility against animals. In 1988, the suite unanimously turned a verdict for the Rev. Jerry Falwell in his libel lawsuit against Hustler entrepot originator Larry Flynt over a raunchy parody ad.

What might hit prefabricated this housing assorted was that the Snyders are not celebrities or unstoppered officials but clannish citizens. Both revivalist and Alito agreed that the Snyders were the innocent victims of the long-running campaign by the church's pastor, the Rev. Fred Phelps, and his kinsfolk members who make up most of the Westboro Baptistic Church. revivalist said there was no uncertainty the protesters additional to Albert Snyder's "already incalculable grief."

But revivalist said the oftenness of the protests — and the church's practice of demonstrating against Catholics, Jews and some another groups — is an communication that Phelps and his flock were not mounting a individualized move against Snyder but expressing deeply held views on unstoppered topics.

Indeed, Gospels Snyder was not gay. But "Westboro believes that God is ending dweller soldiers as punishment for the nation's sinful policies," revivalist said.

"Speech is powerful. It crapper stir grouping to action, move them to tears of both experience and sorrow, and — as it did here — transmit great pain. On the facts before us, we cannot move to that discompose by punishing the speaker," revivalist said.

Snyder's reaction, at a news conference in York, Pa.: "My prototypal intellection was, octad justices don't hit the ordinary sense God gave a goat." He added, "We institute discover today we crapper no individual inhume our departed in this realty with dignity."

He said it was possible he would hit to clear the Phelpses around $100,000, which they are hunt in legal fees, since he lost the lawsuit. The money would, in effect, finance more of the aforementioned state he fought against, Snyder said.

Margie Phelps, a daughter of the minister and a lawyer who argued the housing at the Supreme Court, said she due the outcome. "The exclusive surprise is that Justice Alito did not feel compelled to study his oath," Phelps said. "We read the law. We study the law. The exclusive artefact for a assorted ruling is to iota the First Amendment."

She also offered her church's analyse of the decision. "I conceive it's pretty self-explanatory, but here's the core point: the wrath of God is running onto this land. Rather than trying to closed us up, ingest your platforms to tell this commonwealth to mourn for your sins."

Veterans groups reacted to the ruling with dismay. Veterans of Foreign Wars domestic man Richard L. Eubank said, "The Westboro Baptistic Church haw conceive they hit won, but the association module continue to support accord efforts to secure no digit hears their voice, because the correct to liberated style does not trump a family's correct to mourn in private."

The picketers obeyed personnel manual and stood most 1,000 feet from the Catholic faith in Westminster, Md., where the funeral took locate in March of 2006.

The protesters drew counter-demonstrators, as well as media news and a heavy personnel proximity to reassert order. The termination was a blooper that led to altering the route of the funeral procession.

Several weeks later, Albert Snyder was aquatics the cyberspace for tributes to his son from another soldiers and strangers when he came upon a poem on the church's website that assailed Matthew's parents for the artefact they brought up their son.

Soon after, Snyder filed a lawsuit accusing the Phelpses of intentionally inflicting emotive distress. He won $11 meg at trial, after reduced by a determine to $5 million.

The federal appeals suite in Richmond, Va., threw discover the verdict and said the Constitution shielded the faith members from liability. The Supreme Court agreed.

Forty-eight states, 42 U.S. senators and veterans groups had sided with Snyder, asking the suite to shield funerals from the Phelps family's "psychological terrorism."

While distancing themselves from the church's message, media organizations, including The Associated Press, urged the suite to side with the Phelps kinsfolk because of concerns that a victory for Snyder could delapidate style rights.

Roberts described the court's holding as narrow, and in a removed instrument Justice Stephen Breyer advisable that in another circumstances governments would not be "powerless to provide clannish individuals with necessary protection."

But in this case, Breyer said, it would be wrong to "punish Westboro for hunt to transmit its views on matters of unstoppered concern."

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Associated Press illustrator Maria Sudekum Fisher in river City, Mo., contributed to this report.

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