Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/10pdf/09-751.pdf
Page Number: 6.0

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SNYDER v. PHELPS 

Opinion of the Court 

Marine  Lance  Corporal  Matthew  Snyder  was  killed  in 
Iraq  in  the  line  of  duty.    Lance  Corporal  Snyder’s  father
selected the Catholic church in the Snyders’  hometown of 
Westminster,  Maryland,  as  the  site  for  his  son’s  funeral. 
Local newspapers provided notice of the time and location 
of the service. 

Phelps  became  aware  of  Matthew  Snyder’s  funeral  and 
decided  to  travel  to  Maryland  with  six  other  Westboro 
Baptist  parishioners  (two  of  his  daughters  and  four  of 
his grandchildren) to picket.  On the day of the memorial 
service,  the  Westboro  congregation  members  picketed  on 
public  land  adjacent  to  public  streets  near  the  Maryland 
State  House,  the  United  States  Naval  Academy,  and 
Matthew  Snyder’s  funeral.    The  Westboro  picketers  car-
ried signs that were largely the same at all three locations.
They stated, for instance: “God Hates the USA/Thank God 
for 9/11,” “America is Doomed,” “Don’t Pray for the USA,” 
“Thank  God  for  IEDs,”  “Thank  God  for  Dead  Soldiers,” 
“Pope  in  Hell,”  “Priests  Rape  Boys,”  “God  Hates  Fags,”
“You’re Going to Hell,” and “God Hates You.” 

The church had notified the authorities in advance of its 
intent to picket at the time of the funeral, and the picket-
ers  complied  with  police  instructions  in  staging  their 
demonstration.  The  picketing  took  place  within  a  10-  by
25-foot  plot  of  public  land  adjacent  to  a  public  street,
behind  a  temporary  fence.    App.  to  Brief  for  Appellants
in  No. 08–1026  (CA4),  pp. 2282–2285  (hereinafter  App.).
That  plot  was  approximately  1,000  feet  from  the  church 
where  the  funeral  was  held.  Several  buildings  separated 
the  picket  site  from  the  church.  Id.,  at  3758.   The  West-
boro  picketers  displayed  their  signs  for  about  30  minutes 
before  the  funeral  began  and  sang  hymns  and  recited 
Bible  verses.  None  of  the  picketers  entered  church  prop-
erty  or  went  to  the  cemetery.    They  did  not  yell  or  use 
profanity,  and  there  was  no  violence  associated  with  the
picketing.  Id., at 2168, 2371, 2286, 2293.