Throughout American history, there have been several laws and amendments that have been created in order to provide us with the rights we have today. However, can some of these rights that are granted to us have a negative effect on the people of America? In the past there have been various situations in which, the amendments/laws created by the government were in favor of the person who morally did the wrong thing. However, according to certain amendments/laws, they had the right to carry out the actions that they did, even if it was the wrong thing to do. One prime example is when the Phelpses won the case against Snyder because of the 1st Amendment.
The Phelpses are members of the Westboro Baptist Church. The Westboro Baptist Church is a
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Phelps. In this case, Albert Snyder filed a lawsuit against the Westboro Baptist Church after they had made an appearance at his son’s funeral to protest against American soldiers. In the article, “Westboro Baptist Church Wins Supreme Court Appeal Over Funeral Protest”, the author states, “Indeed, Matthew Snyder was not gay. But ‘Westboro believes that God is killing American soldiers as punishment for the nation's sinful policies,’ Roberts said. ‘Speech is powerful. It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and – as it did here – inflict great pain. On the facts before us, we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker,’ Roberts said.” This shows how as a father, Albert Snyder must have felt devastated because of the actions of the Westboro Baptist Church. In the end, the Phelpses actually ended up winning this case because of the 1st Amendment which states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” This means that the Phelpses had the right to protest at his son’s funeral which is why they won the case against Albert …show more content…
This is because, in the 1st Amendment, it states that in America we have the right to have freedom of speech. In this case, the Phelpses used their freedom of speech in order to protest in favor of what they believe in which can be defended by the 1st Amendment. In the article, “Westboro Baptist Church Wins Supreme Court Appeal Over Funeral Protest”, the author states, “The ruling, though, was in line with many earlier court decisions that said the First Amendment exists to protect robust debate on public issues and free expression, no matter how distasteful.” This shows how although many people disagreed with the Westboro Baptist Church, there was nothing that they could do about the situation. Even if their actions were extremely disrespectful, they had the right to do it and no one can take away their rights to express what they feel in America. However, I think that they should have not protested at a funeral because that is a time where family members and friends gather together to give their final goodbyes to their loved