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US Supreme Court: 1st Amendment Shields Westboro Baptist Church - The Decision as Text

By Pamela Jones et al.

The US Supreme Court has just ruled [PDF] that the First Amendment shields Westboro Baptist Church from tort liability for picketing at military funerals. The case centered on whether the "speech is of public or private concern, as determined by all the circumstances of the case." The court held that it was public speech, and hence protected. Because it's a controversial case, and the opinion is a narrow one with a vigorous dissenting opinion by Judge Alito, I thought it would be useful to do a text version for you so you can understand the nuances. There's a court hearing in the SCO bankruptcy later today, but this will give you something to think about while we wait to hear what happened there.

Full post as published by Groklaw on March 02, 2011 (boomark / email).