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In episode 76 of Supreme Court Briefs, the Westboro Baptist Church decides to protest a dead soldier's funeral with signs like “Thank God for Dead Soldiers,” “God Hates Fags,” “You’re Going to Hell,” and “God Hates America.” The dead soldier's dad sues them.

Produced by Matt Beat and Beat Productions, LLC. All images/video by Matt Beat, Shannon Beat, found in the public domain, or used under fair use guidelines. Music by @silent-partner

Creative commons credits: JCWilmore

Mr. Beat's Supreme Court Briefs playlist:    • Supreme Court Briefs  

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Here's an annotated script with footnotes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I...

Check out cool primary sources here:
https://www.oyez.org/cases/2010/09-751

Other sources used/referenced:
https://www.uscourts.gov/educational-...
https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/htm...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snyder_...
https://drexel.edu/law/about/news/Pub...
http://www.newsline.umd.edu/justice/w...

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#ushistory #supremecourt #apgovt

Snyder v. Phelps reaffirmed the principle that, even if speech is ridiculously offensive and unpopular, it’s still protected by the First Amendment. In other words, the government can’t restrict speech simply because it’s extremely distasteful or causes emotional harm. As long as you protest peacefully on public land, you can pretty much say the most outrageous things imaginable. Indeed, the Phelps still regularly do this.