Snyder v. Phelps’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 federal appellate · 3 district ·

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 6 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “The Defendants in this ease claim that their actions were protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, which provides that Congress shall make no law ... prohibiting the free exercise [of religion]; or abridging the freedom of speech. The Defendants have a right under the First Amendment to engage in picketing, and to publish their religious message, no matter how much you may disagree with that message. The First Amendment applies to action at the state and local level through the Fourteenth Amendment. As a general matter, the fact that society may find speech offensive is not a sufficient reason for suppressing it. Speech that is called hateful, or speech that is unpopular, or speech with which you strongly disagree, may still be protected speech. The government, including the courts, can place reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions on how protected speech may be expressed. These restrictions must be narrowly tailored, and should balance the interests of all the people involved. Speech that is vulgar, offensive, and shocking ... is not entitled to absolute constitutional protection under all circumstances. The United States Supreme Court has long recognized that not all speech is of equal First Amendment protection. When speech gives rise to civil tort liability, the level of First Amendment protection varies depending on the nature and subject matter of the speech. As to the particular subject matter of the speech, a distinction has been dra”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Snyder v. Phelps

2. “On March 3, 2006, Marine Lance Corporal Matthew A. Snyder was killed in Iraq in the line of duty. Shortly thereafter, two United States Marines came to the home of the Plaintiff, Albert Snyder, and told him that his son had died. As Matthew Snyder had lived in Westminster, Maryland, and graduated from Westminster High School, St. John’s Catholic Church in Westminster was selected as the site for his funeral, which was scheduled for March 10, 2006. Obituary notices were placed in local newspapers providing notice of the time and location of the funeral. Defendant Fred W. Phelps, Sr., founded Defendant Westboro Baptist Church, Inc. in Topeka, Kansas, in 1955. For fifty-two years, he has been the only pastor of the church, which has approximately sixty or seventy members, fifty of whom are his children, grandchildren, or in-laws. Among these family members are Defendants Shirley L. Phelps-Roper and Rebekah A. Phelps-Davis. There are approximately ten to twenty members of the church who are not related to Phelps by blood or marriage. According to the testimony of Defendants’ expert, the members of this church practice a “fire and brimstone” fundamentalist religious faith. Among their religious beliefs is that God hates homosexuality and hates and punishes America for its tolerance of homosexuality, particularly in the United States military. Members of the church have increasingly picketed funerals to assert these beliefs. Defendants have also established a website identified as ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Snyder v. Phelps

3. “He described the severity of his emotional injury, stating that he is often tearful and angry, and that he becomes so sick to his stomach that he actually physically vomits. He testified that Defendants placed a “bug” in his head, such that he is unable to separate thoughts of his son from the [Defendants’] actions: “there are nights that I just, you know, I try to think of my son at times and every time I think of my son or pass his picture hanging on the wall or see the medals hanging on the wall that he received from the [M]arine [C]orps, I see those signs.” He testified also that “I want so badly to remember all the good stuff and so far, I remember the good stuff, but it always turns into the bad.” Plaintiff also testified as to the permanency of the emotional injury. He testified that “I think about the sign [i.e., Thank God for dead soldiers] every day of my life.... I see that sign when I lay in bed at nights. I [had] one chance to bury my son and they took the dignity away from it. I cannot re-bury my son. And for the rest of my life, I will remember what they did to me and it has tarnished the memory of my son’s last hour on earth.” He stated also that “somebody could have stabbed me in the arm or in the back and the wound would have healed. But I don’t think this will heal.” Throughout trial, Plaintiff demonstrated significant emotion, appearing visibly shaken and distressed, and was often reduced to tears. On occasion during the trial, Plaintiff requested and was ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Snyder v. Phelps