SNYDER v. PHELPS

No. 08-1026.

580 F.3d 206 (2009)

Albert SNYDER, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Fred W. PHELPS, Sr.; Westboro Baptist Church, Incorporated; Rebekah A. Phelps-Davis; Shirley L. Phelps-Roper, Defendants-Appellants, and Jane Doe; John Doe, Jr., Defendants. Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression; American Civil Liberties Union; American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, Amici Supporting Appellants, and Jeffrey Ira Shulman, Amicus Supporting Appellee.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Decided: September 24, 2009.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

ARGUED: Margie Jean Phelps, Topeka, Kansas, for Appellants. Sean E. Summers, Barley & Snyder, LLC, York, Pennsylvania, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Craig T. Trebilcock, Shumaker Williams, PC, York, Pennsylvania, for Appellee. J. Joshua Wheeler, The Thomas Jefferson Center For The Protection Of Free Expression, Charlottesville, Virginia, for The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, Amicus Supporting Appellants. Joel Kleinman, David Schur, Ranga Sourirajan, Dickstein Shapiro, L.L.P., Washington, D.C., for American Civil Liberties Union and American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland; Steven R. Shapiro, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, New York, New York, for American Civil Liberties Union; Deborah A. Jeon, ACLU Foundation of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, for American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, Amici Supporting Appellants. Jeffrey I. Shulman, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C., Amicus Supporting Appellee.

Judgment reversed and bonds discharged by published opinion. Judge KING wrote the opinion, in which Judge DUNCAN joined. Judge SHEDD wrote a separate opinion concurring in the judgment.


OPINION

KING, Circuit Judge:

In June 2006, Albert Snyder instituted this diversity action in the District of Maryland against Westboro Baptist Church, Incorporated (the "Church"), and several of its members (collectively, the "Defendants"). Snyder's lawsuit is predicated on two related events: a protest the Defendants conducted in Maryland near the funeral of Snyder's son Matthew (an enlisted Marine who tragically...

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