host: on october 7 of last year , right after the supreme court arguments, margie phelps was on this program. so if you go to the c-span archives and type in march phelps or october 7, 2010, you can watch the interview you did with her at that point. in other news. from the 11th -- politico this morning, dems support biden's budget role. that is from the politico this morning. this is from "roll call" this morning. gop leaders poised to balk by then's budget meeting. -- buck biden's budget meeting. boehner hit the gas. this is from "the hill." that is a little look at what is going on with the budget. one of the many budget processes that are working their way through capitol hill right now. joining us now from topeka, kansas, is margie phelps, a daughter of fred phelps, the lawyer who argued the case in front of the supreme court. we have been talking about the case in this morning with our callers. one of the things that stuck out is that there was room in the supreme court decision -- or language in the supreme court decision that seemed to indicate that states could further regula

host: this e-mail from steve in the illinois, margie phelps. guest: if i had a penny for every time i have heard that. here is my answer. first of all, the lord god of eternity is keeping this church. the bill be betting any rent money on anyone in this church dying before christ returns -- don't be betting any rent money. if that were to happen, there had better be gridlock on all high rate -- highways and roads, into topeka, kansas. everybody in this country had better come to pick it outside of that funeral. you have been promising its, and we would want and expect nothing less. host: this tweet -- >> caller with margie phelps from westboro baptist church -- host: next call from emporia, kansas. caller: good morning,. . i really did not have anything to say to margie phelps but i do believe that the supreme court got it right. i believe their views are abhorrence but i know for the rest of us, free-speech is really the foundation of our republic. i write in our local rag here occasionally and i run counter to the prevailing thought. sometime

joining us now from topeka, kansas, a margie phelps, daughter of founder of westboro baptist church, who is also the lawyer who argued the case successfully before the supreme court. miss phelps, before we talk about the case, let's talk about your church. it's not just soldiers, but your church says 9/11 and explosion of the space shuttle "columbia" were also god's will. after the shootings in tucson, you said, your church did that 9-year-old christina taylor green was better off dead and you wanted to picket her funeral. question: how does an innocent 9-year-old girl end up in this? >> well, if you study the scriptures you would know no human is innocent and when a nation makes policies of sin that the god of eternity duels with that nation by pouring his wrath out on that nation. and every description of that kind in the scriptures expressly includes down to little seclings are caught up in that matter. we're saying to the nation they're dying for our sins and if you want it to stop, you have to repent and mourn for your sins and stop. >> chris: well, let's talk about interpreting

. >> that are taken a person is margie phelps, a member of the church in the personal argue before the u.s. supreme court. the phelps have taken about -- legal fees from mr. snyder. will he have to pay that? then i am confident the people will raise money to pay whenever those fees are, if in fact they want to them. i interviewed all the protagonists in this, and your heart just went out to this family. but you saw the court at the oral arguments struggling. they would have loved to have ruled for them. there is just no way. >> 48 state, 42 u.s. citizens -- senators, veterans groups side with albert snyder to protect your laurels from the felt family is psychological terrorism but a lot of news organizations side with the other side, setting the first member protection at the absolute. a justice alito argued the phelps' or engage in the use of fighting words that are not protected. >> first of all, it is not a suicide pact. so there are some limits on it. it is not absolute. you cannot scream fire in a crowded theater. but the limits of restricting speech are pretty far out there. it h

attorney margie phelps is the daughter of the church's founder. had argued the case before the court, and spoke about her victory from topeka, kansas. >> we know what the law is, we follow the law, and we knew that the only way not to uphold our position was to shred not only the first amendment but 200 years of just under the first amendment. >> my first thought was eight justices don't have the common sense god gave a goat. we found out today that we can no longer bury our dead in this country with dignity. >> woodruff: the high court also heard arguments today in a case involving former u.s. attorney general john ashcroft. marcia coyle of the "national law journal" was in the courtroom for the argument and the decision, and she joins us now. welcome back two nights in a row. >> i know, thanks, judy. >> woodruff: so i think it's fair to say, marcia, a lot of people have a hard time understanding this decision handed down, the free speech case. take us back to what happened that precipitated the lawsuit. >> okay. as you recall, there was a protes

>> reporter: margie phelps is the lead counsel of the church and daughter of its controversial pastoras hardly conciliatory. even mocking the case and its argument. >> when you're standing there with your young child's body, bits and pieces in a coffin, you've been dealt some emotional distress by the lord your god. >> reporter: the one dissenting voice, judge samuel alito, wrote the church's outrageous conduct caused albert snyder great injury and that the court's decision only compounded that injury. peggy and mike? >>> the army private accused of providing sensitive material to wikileaks is facing the possibility of life in prison. bradley manning was slapped with 22 new charges yesterday, including aiding the enemy. manning could have faced the death penalty but prosecutors say they won't recommend that. he's suspected of providing wikileaks with a quarter million state department tables, information about the wars in iraq and afghanistan. >>> the assassination of the only christian serving in pakistan's government. he was well aware of the danger he faced from islamic rebels. so

snyder or his lawyers, but margie phelps who is the daughter of the minister of the church and who also is a lawyer who argued the case at the court, she said that the outcome was expected. she said the only surprise was alito's dissent. she said that the only way for a different ruling would be -- would have been to have shredded the first amendment. >> could people see this as the court sanctioning the message of the westboro baptist church? >> well, that's not certainly not what the court said it was doing. it said that what it was doing, the chief justice said that sometimes even hurtful speech has to be protected because if not, it risks stifling public debate on public issues. >> mark sherman is with the associated press. thank for joining us today. >> you are quite welcome. >> now here is the supreme court oral argument from october. the court ruled today the westboro baptist church has the right to hold anti-gay protest near military funerals. the court also dismissed a $5 million judgment from the father of a dead marine. this is an hour. >> your argument first today in case 09

snyder or his lawyers but margie phelps, who was the daughter of a minister of the church and who also is a lawyer who argued the case at the court, she said the outcome was expected. she said the only surprise was alito's dissent and she said that the only way for a different ruling would have been to have shredded the first amendment. >> could people see this as the court sanctioning the message of the westboro baptist church? >> while that is certainly not what the court said it was doing. it said that, what it was doing, the chief justice said that sometimes even hurtful speech has to be protected because if not, it risks stifling public debate on public issues. >> mark fuhrman is with the "associated press." thanks for joining us today. >> you are quite welcome. >> now we hear is the supreme court oral argument from october. the court ruled today the westboro baptist church has the right to hold protests near military funerals. the court also dismissed a 5 million-dollar judgment from the father of a dead marine. this is an hour. >> we will hear arguments first today in case 09751