Not sure this is what the drafters of the First Amendment had in mind, but
Albert Snyder, whose funeral of his 20-year-old son Matthew, a Marine who died in Iraq in 2006, was picketed by the group, sued Phelps and argued at trial that the demonstration at his son's funeral invaded his privacy, caused emotional distress and violated his rights to free exercise of religion and peaceful assembly.
On CNN's religion blog, Stephen Prothero wrote today that "When the Supreme Court hears this case, I hope it will do the right thing and let Phelps and his family trudge off to their next protest unmolested by the long arm of government." Time blogger Adam Cohen agrees, writing that "spewing hate at funerals is still free speech."
But Carolyn Castiglia condemns the church's protests on the Strollerby parenting blog site, saying that by sanctioning the hatred of homosexuals, "we are sending a message to the school bullies who've taunted gay kids to kill themselves. Clearly we've come to a cultural boiling point regarding gay rights; I think it's time for the madness to end."
