Albert Snyder v. Fred Phelps, Sr.

On March 10, 2006, Marine Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder dies in Iraq. Eight days later, members of the Westboro Baptist Church travel from Topeka to picket his funeral in Maryland, holding signs that read "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" and "God Hates Fags." Matthew's father Albert sees the signs on his way to bury his son. He sues the church and its founder, Fred Phelps Sr., for intentional infliction of emotional distress. A Maryland jury awards Snyder eleven million dollars. The Fourth Circuit reverses on First Amendment grounds.

Snyder argues that a private family burying their son has the right to grieve without strangers turning that grief into a public spectacle. The church argues that the picket addressed matters of public concern, that the funeral was a public event, and that the First Amendment protects offensive speech precisely because the alternative gives the state power to decide which speech is too cruel to allow.

If Snyder wins, courts get a standard for when speech crosses into actionable harm, and grieving families have legal recourse against tactics designed to wound. If Phelps wins, anyone can picket any funeral, and the protection of free speech extends to messages most Americans find indefensible.