Questions regarding Snyder v. Phelps

Here are some of the questions and concerns the Justices asked during oral arguments of the Snyder v. Phelps case that will be decided this year:

"Do you think that a person can put anything on the Internet? Do you think they can put anything on television, even if it attacks, say, the most private things of a private individual?"  --Justice Breyer

Justice Sotomayor was "trying to tease out the importance of whether the person's a private or public figure" because Albert Snyder went on the local news and discussed the funeral procession and his son before Westboro came and protested.

"The question is whether the First Amendment must tolerate exploiting this bereaved family."  Justice Ginsburg

Justice Scalia pondered whether Albert Snyder could claim emotional distress because he went and found the "Epic" poem posted on the internet about his son by the Westboro Baptist Church.

Justice Kagan asked Margie Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church if a protester could follow a veteran to work every day calling him a war criminal in attempt to understand exactly where the line is drawn between free speech and harassment.

Justice Alito brought in the image of an innocent grandmother and whether she could be confronted at a bust stop outside a cemetery and be spoken to "in the most vile terms"about her grandson being killed in action.

"[I]f you recognize that there can be a tort of emotional distress in [in some cases], isn’t that, the factual question of whether it rises to that level of outrageousness, which is part of the tort for the jury?" -- Justice Roberts attempting delve into exactly what "outrageous" is and whether the initial jury decision for the Snyder family was proper.

Justice Kennedy expressed concern that by finding in favor of Westboro Baptist Church the Supreme Court would allow any group to follow any citizen around at any point and harass them.  He stated, "torts and crimes are committed with words all the time."

As you can see, I only named 8 of the 9 justices as Justice Thomas continued his approximate 5 year silence streak on the bench during this oral argument.

These are all wonderful and extremely difficult questions; and that is how I will leave them for today, as questions.

You can listen to the 1 hour oral argument here.  It is worth your time if you are looking to learn more about this issue:  http://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_audio_detail.aspx?argument=09-751