I am no friend of Fred Phelps, the so-called Pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. He and his hate-driven band of relatives picket military funerals around the country and their practices are front and center in a case being heard by the United States Supreme Court this coming Wednesday. Once more, their practice of carrying hate-filled signs outside churches and cemeteries while mourners grieve the loss of loved ones is one of the most repugnant and insensitive practices in America today. Phelps is certainly no man of God.
The Phelps case pits two important freedoms – freedom of religion and freedom of speech, against one another as our highest Court grapples with the limits of both rights as they apply to disputes between private parties.
A 'friend of the court brief' submitted by Democratic Senator Harry Reid and 40 other senators in opposition to the Westboro Church is worth reading and can be found at the following web address:
www.abanet.org/publiced/preview/briefs/pdfs/09-10/09-751_PetitionerAmCu42Senators.pdf
Similarly, a 'friend of the court brief' submitted by the Scholars of the First Amendment in favor of the Westboro Church is worth reading and can be found at the following web address:
www.abanet.org/publiced/preview/briefs/pdfs/09-10/09-751_RespondentAmCuScholarsFirstAmendmentLaw.pdf
Both sides present powerful arguments for and against the practices of the Westboro Church and highlight the fact that the question being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court is not as cut-and-dry and people might assume.
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