Phelps-Roper v. City of Manchester (MLW No. 62834/Case No. 10-3197 – 8 pages) (U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, per curiam)

Tagged with: Constitutional DMurphy First Amendment funeral protest per curiam8

Members of Westboro Baptist Church may picket at funerals in St. Charles County — at least while the constitutionality of a county ordinance is being reviewed.

Tagged with: Anthony Rothert First Amendment funeral protest St. Charles County Westboro Baptist Church

Citing a recent federal court decision, the St. Joseph City Council reluctantly repealed an ordinance that limited protests at funerals.

Tagged with: funeral protest St. Joseph Westboro Baptist Church

The $5 million verdict against the Westboro Baptist Church, the fundamentalist sect from Kansas that has attracted national media attention for picketing at military funerals, has been reversed. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond overturned a Baltimore jury's award to Albert Snyder for the emotional distress he suffered when members of the Phelps family picketed his Marine son's funeral in 2006. "We are constrained to agree that these signs are entitled to First Amendment protection," Judge Robert B. King wrote for the federal appeals court.

Tagged with: funeral protest Shirley Phelps-Roper St. Joseph Westboro Baptist Church

The ACLU is putting cities that ban protests at funerals on notice. The American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri and Westboro Baptist Church have sued six cities and sent letters to 15 municipalities threatening litigation unless they repeal their funeral protest ordinances. Thanks to the letters and lawsuits, funeral protest laws started falling last week in the St. Louis area. Maplewood repealed its ordinance Tuesday and O'Fallon and Wentzville council members and aldermen considered bills that would repeal theirs. The Village of Riverview has a vote on repealing its ban scheduled for an Aug. 27 board of trustees meeting.

Tagged with: ACLU funeral protest Westboro Baptist Church

Missouri is taking its fight against protests near military funerals to the U.S. Supreme Court. The state petitioned the Supreme Court to consider whether the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals got it wrong when it said Shirley Phelps-Roper and ...

Tagged with: 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals American Civil Liberties Union funeral protest Shirley Phelps-Roper U.S. Supreme Court Westboro Baptist Church