Privacy Rights Trumped by First Amendment in Westboro Baptist Case, says Professor Kendall Thomas

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Privacy Rights Trumped by First Amendment in Westboro Baptist Case, says Professor Kendall Thomas

Public Affairs, 212-854-2650

New York, March 2, 2011—Kendall Thomas, a constitutional law expert at Columbia Law School, said there was a lot more than free speech at stake in Wednesday’s Snyder v. Phelps decision handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
 
Thomas, the Nash Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Study of Law and Culture, said he understood why the majority erred on the side of the First Amendment in upholding the right of the Westboro Baptist Church to mount anti-gay protests at military funerals.
 
But in an interview with Fox News, Thomas noted the case has important nuances that were highlighted in the lone dissent from Justice Samuel Alito. “I think in many ways Justice Alito got the better of the argument.”
 
Thomas also offered these insights on the decision:
 
“The majority relied on the fact that this was public speech about a matter of public concern. On the other hand, Justice Alito argued that even if this was public speech, Mr. Snyder is a private citizen, and the conduct of the church was not conduct that addressed general issues of public concern, but which specifically targeted Mr. and Mrs. Snyder and their dead son.”

“I think the challenge here is to figure out how to strike a balance between the protection of people’s right to address and the public’s right to hear discussion of issues that are of public importance, and the private rights of Mr. Snyder.”
 
“There’s a long and well-respected tradition in our common law of protecting the rights of individuals who are grieving over their lost loved ones.”
 
“It’s fair to say this was a loss for private citizens. This victory for Phelps came at the cost of thousands of Americans who would be subject to the behavior of the likes of the Westboro Baptist church during a time when they are at their most vulnerable. The court could have shown a greater sensitivity than it does for that harm.”
 
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