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    Supreme Court Case Study

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    Jack Gill
    The Supreme Court case Snyder v. Phelps involved protests held by the Westboro Baptist Church at a soldier's funeral. The family of the deceased soldier sued the church for emotional distress. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled 8-1 that the church's speech was protected by the First Amendment even though it was offensive. The majority reasoned that the First Amendment protects even outrageous speech, while the dissent argued it was a vicious verbal assault. As a result, offensive speech must now be tolerated if it is protected by the First Amendment. No subsequent related cases have challenged this ruling.

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    Supreme Court Case Study

    Uploaded by

    Jack Gill
    52 views3 pages
    The Supreme Court case Snyder v. Phelps involved protests held by the Westboro Baptist Church at a soldier's funeral. The family of the deceased soldier sued the church for emotional distress. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled 8-1 that the church's speech was protected by the First Amendment even though it was offensive. The majority reasoned that the First Amendment protects even outrageous speech, while the dissent argued it was a vicious verbal assault. As a result, offensive speech must now be tolerated if it is protected by the First Amendment. No subsequent related cases have challenged this ruling.

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    The Supreme Court case Snyder v. Phelps involved protests held by the Westboro Baptist Church at a soldier's funeral. The family of the deceased soldier sued the church for emotional distress. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled 8-1 that the church's speech was protected by the First Amendment even though it was offensive. The majority reasoned that the First Amendment protects even outrageous speech, while the dissent argued it was a vicious verbal assault. As a result, offensive speech must now be tolerated if it is protected by the First Amendment. No subsequent related cases have challenged this ruling.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    52 views3 pages

    Supreme Court Case Study

    Uploaded by

    Jack Gill
    The Supreme Court case Snyder v. Phelps involved protests held by the Westboro Baptist Church at a soldier's funeral. The family of the deceased soldier sued the church for emotional distress. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled 8-1 that the church's speech was protected by the First Amendment even though it was offensive. The majority reasoned that the First Amendment protects even outrageous speech, while the dissent argued it was a vicious verbal assault. As a result, offensive speech must now be tolerated if it is protected by the First Amendment. No subsequent related cases have challenged this ruling.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    U.S.

    Government Name(s): Jack Gill Period: 6

    Supreme Court Case Study


    Directions: Choose a Supreme Court Case (see list on Google Classroom or search “Landmark
    Supreme Court Cases” to find one), research it, and answer the questions below in your own words and in
    complete sentences.

    Recommended Research Sites: www.oyez.org. www.law.cornell.edu, www.landmarkcases.org, www.


    supremecourt.gov

    CASE: Snyder v. Phelps

    Background:
    1. What events took place that led to the initial court case?
    - A U.S. soldier died and at his funeral were protestors from the Westboro Baptist
    Church, they caused emotonal distress to the family due to their signs with
    offensive words.

    2. What specific courts heard the case before it reached the Supreme Court?
    - The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
    - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

    3. What was the decision in each of those cases?


    - The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland-- Agreed with the plaintiff and
    awarded him 5 million dollars
    - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit-- Reversed that judgement and
    held that Phelps speech was protected by the First Amendment.

    Points of law:
    4. What was the constitutional question the Supreme Court was answering in this case?
    (Hint: the case may be based on more than one part of the Constitution. E.g. “This was a First and
    Fourteenth Amendment case based on 1st Amendment freedom of speech and the 14th Amendment equal
    protection clause.”)

    - This was a First Amendment case based on 1st Amendment freedom of speech

    Decision and reasoning of the Court (the majority opinion):


    5. State the vote: 8/1 (E.g. 6/3, 9/0, etc.)

    6. What was the reasoning behind the decision? (i.e. What did the Justices write and
    why?)

    - The eight that voted in favor considered what and how and where the Westboro
    protested with their signs, was entitled to special protection under the First
    Amendment and that even though the signs were outrageous, they’re still
    protected under the First Amendment.

    1
    Dissenting opinion:

    7. Summary of Justice’s arguments not siding with the majority. (Note: If the decision was
    unanimous and there was no Dissenting Opinion, provide a more thorough summary of the majority
    opinion and/or the results)

    - The one judge that voted against it filed a lone dissent, in which he argued "Our
    profound national commitment to free and open debate is not a license for the
    vicious verbal assault that occurred in this case."

    Results and Subsequent Cases: (Impact the case has had on our society and/or the law)
    8. What has changed as a result of this decision?

    - Nothing really has changed except people now have to except that they might not
    like what someone says but they have to understand it’s their right.

    9. Has the Supreme Court reversed itself in later rulings?

    - No

    10. What other related cases followed this case?

    - There haven't been any related cases following since the case was only 9 years
    ago.

    Your Opinion:
    11. Do you agree or disagree with the majority opinion? Why? (Paragraph Response – 4-6
    sentences)

    - Yes I agree with the majority opinion. If you start limiting who says things, it’s
    similar to censorship. Just like there’s freedom of speech with good things people
    say it also has to include bad things. The First Amendment is there to protect
    everybody and you can’t select certain people even if you disagree with them.

    analysis:
    12. Define Judicial Review. How is this case an example of Judicial Review?

    - Judicial Review refers to the power of a court to review a statute, treaty or


    administrative regulation for constitutionality or consistency with a superior law.
    2
    - This case is an example of Judicial Review because it went all the way to the
    Supreme Court.

    Informal Works cited: List the Websites/Sources used (does NOT need to be MLA) -

    https://www.oyez.org/cases/2010/09-751

    https://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/educational-activities/facts-and-case-
    summary-snyder-v-phelps

    https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/09-751.ZS.html

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