Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/10pdf/09-751.pdf
Page Number: 8.0

4 

SNYDER v. PHELPS 

Opinion of the Court 

The  District  Court  awarded  Westboro  summary  judg-
ment  on  Snyder’s  claims  for  defamation  and  publicity 
given  to  private  life,  concluding  that  Snyder  could  not 
prove  the  necessary  elements  of  those  torts.  Id.,  at  572– 
573.  A  trial  was  held  on  the  remaining  claims.    At  trial, 
Snyder  described  the  severity  of  his  emotional  injuries. 
He  testified  that  he  is  unable  to  separate  the  thought  of 
his  dead  son  from  his  thoughts  of  Westboro’s  picketing,
and that he often becomes tearful, angry, and physically ill
when  he  thinks  about  it.  Id.,  at  588–589.    Expert  wit-
nesses  testified  that  Snyder’s  emotional  anguish  had 
resulted  in  severe  depression  and  had  exacerbated  pre-
existing health conditions.

A  jury  found  for  Snyder  on  the  intentional  infliction  of
emotional  distress,  intrusion  upon  seclusion,  and  civil 
conspiracy  claims,  and  held  Westboro  liable  for  $2.9  mil-
lion  in  compensatory  damages  and  $8  million  in  punitive 
damages.  Westboro  filed  several  post-trial  motions,  in-
cluding  a  motion  contending  that  the  jury  verdict  was 
grossly  excessive  and  a  motion  seeking  judgment  as  a
matter of law on all claims on First Amendment grounds. 
The  District  Court  remitted  the  punitive  damages  award 
to  $2.1  million,  but  left  the  jury  verdict  otherwise  intact. 
Id., at 597. 

In  the  Court  of  Appeals,  Westboro’s  primary  argument 
was that the church was entitled to judgment as a matter 
of law because the First Amendment fully protected West-
boro’s  speech.  The  Court  of  Appeals  agreed.  580  F. 3d 
206, 221 (CA4 2009).  The court reviewed the picket signs
and concluded that Westboro’s statements were entitled to 
First  Amendment  protection  because  those  statements 
were on matters of public concern, were not provably false,
and  were  expressed  solely  through  hyperbolic  rhetoric. 
Id., at 222–224.2 
—————— 

2 One judge concurred in the judgment on the ground that Snyder had 
failed to introduce sufficient evidence at trial to support a jury verdict