The First Amendment protects a fringe church's anti-gay protests at military funerals, a nearly unanimous Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in a powerful opinion that spoke to the nation's tolerance for even hateful public speech.
The court's most liberal and most conservative justices joined in a decision likely to define the term. It writes a new chapter in the court's findings that freedom of speech is so central to the nation that it protects cruel and unpopular protests - even, in this case, at the moment of a family's most profound grief.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote that Westboro Baptist Church's picketing at fallen soldiers' funerals "is certainly hurtful and its contribution to public discourse may be negligible." But he said the reaction may not be "punishing the speaker."
"As a nation we have chosen a different course - to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate," Roberts said.
The court sided with a group on the outskirts of American life: a tiny family church in Topeka, Kan., that has drawn disdain across the nation for its protests of military funerals and its lewd signs proclaiming God's hatred. Its message is that military deaths - and virtually any natural disaster - are divine punishment for the country's tolerance of homosexuality.
At issue was the protest in 2006 at the funeral of 20-year-old Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder in Westminster, Md., who had been killed in Iraq - one of more than 600 funerals the group has picketed. His father, Albert, filed a lawsuit seeking damages, saying the group had turned the event into a "circus."
Margie Phelps, the daughter of Westboro's founder, the Rev. Fred W. Phelps, and a lawyer who argued the case before the court, called Wednesday's decision a providential ruling that was more than she had hoped for.
It could encourage the group to challenge some of the more than 40 state and federal laws that seek to protect funerals from disruption, she said in a telephone interview.
Asked whether the decision would change the church's tactics, Phelps said, "We're going to picket more."
The court's lone dissenter was Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., who said the First Amendment does not convey the right to "brutalize" private individuals.
"Our profound national commitment to free and open debate is not a license for the vicious verbal assault that occurred in this case," he wrote.
Sean E. Summers, who represented Snyder, said his client was naturally disappointed and worried about other families who will be confronted by Westboro.
The United States Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the  protects the free speech rights of an anti-gay church that pickets the funerals of U.S. soldiers, even if they use hateful and offensive language.

In an 8 to 1 decision, the Court upheld a lower court's ruling that struck down an award of $5 million to a slain soldier's father, Albert Snyder. Snyder had sued Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church of , Kansas for  picketing the funeral of his son, 20-year-old Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder who was killed in Iraq in 2006. Snyder said the protest caused him emotional pain and turned his son's funeral into a "circus." 
Pastor Fred Phelps
The protest was well publicized, a  was called, and the funeral procession was diverted away from the protesters, who carried signs such as "Thank God for Dead Soldiers," "God Hates Fags" and "America Is Doomed." The funeral itself was not disturbed and it was carried out on public land, following local laws. Snyder learned of the content of the slogans only later on television.

Snyder's son was not a homosexual. The church pickets military soldiers' funerals because they believe that the United States is too tolerant of homosexuality and that the death of U.S. soldiers is divine retribution. They have picketed more than 600 funerals. 

The Court's decision rested in part on the basis that the subject of the church's speech related to controversial public issues and was not a private attack on Snyder. "The church conducted its picketing peacefully on matters of public concern at a public place adjacent to a public street," Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote in his opinion for the court. "Such space occupies a special position in terms of First Amendment protection." Roberts said that large number of protests conducted by the church against many groups, including Catholics and Jews, is evidence that Phelps and his church were not personally attacking Snyder, but were "expressing deeply held views on public topics." Roberts wrote, "As a nation we have chosen ... to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate."

, the only Justice to rule against the Church wrote that, "Our profound national commitment to free and open debate is not a license for the vicious verbal assault that occurred in this case. In order to have a society in which public issues can be openly and vigorously debated, it is not necessary to allow the brutalization of innocent victims."

Snyder was disappointed in the ruling: "My first thought was eight justices don't have the common sense God gave a goat. We found out today we can no longer bury our dead in this country with dignity."

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