WASHINGTON — Supreme Court justices expressed empathy Wednesday for a father whose Marine Corps son was killed in Iraq and whose funeral was protested by fundamentalist pastor Fred Phelps and his anti-gay followers.

"This is a case about exploiting a private family's grief," Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said.

Yet, the scope of the justices' questions during the hour-long session revealed the difficulty of the case and the reality that the court's free-speech precedents make it hard for individuals to claim they have been harmed by even horrific statements regarding public issues.

Even with their sympathy for the bereaved father, the justices, including key vote Anthony Kennedy, were clearly struggling with how to avoid a ruling that encroaches on legitimate, although hateful, protest messages.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washing...s_N.htm?csp=hf

i find the phelps family repulsive(im still struggling to find words strong enough to enpress my disgust towards them) for them to be performing this hate under the banner of morals, is offensive to say the least. i truely hope they recive a funeral picket, complete with shouted obscenities hurled towards them, at a family members funeral when they are trying to greive, when one passes

These brainwashed freaks are fkn sickening.
Ive seen Tyra banks rip a hole into the head lady (or whatever it is) on her show - awesome! Such scum of society...