matthew snyder died in iraq. s father told cbs news last fall that the protests at matthew's funeral stole his last moments with his son. he sued the church for emotional distress and got a $5 million judgment. >> somebody said to me, you know, "$5 million. i bet you... i bet you'd give it up to have matt back." i would give it up just to say good-bye. >> reporter: but the supreme court said in an 8-1 decision that the church doesn't owe snyder a dime. chief justice john roberts said the first amendment protects even hurtful speech to ensure that we do not stifle public debate. now, justice alito dissented. he said the protests don't add anything to the debate and they only hurt innocent people like albert snyder. katie. >> couric: jan crawford, jan, thank you. it was five years ago tomorrow that marine lance corporate matthew snyder was killed in a humvee accident in iraq. he was just 20 years old. his father, albert, joins us now from york, pennsylvania. mr. snyder, what was your reaction to today's supreme cour

when they showed up at the funeral of matthew snyder, a marine killed in iraq, they carried signs that said "thank god for dead soldiers" and "god hates you." that outraged snyder's father who sued the group for emotional distress. but today the supreme court said the group demonstrated in a public place on issues of public concern and obeyed local laws, keeping them 1,000 feet from the church. writing for eight members of the court, chief justice john roberts said speech is powerful and can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and as it did here, inflict great pain, but he said the government cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker. today matthew snyder's father albert reacted with disgust. >> eight justices don't have the common sense god gave a goat. we can no longer bury our dead in this country with dignity. >> reporter: but civil liberties groups supported the ruling. >> the court's decision today properly and respectfully acknowledged the snyder family grief, but also correctly held that the response to that grief cannot include abandoning

specifically referred to matthew snyder and the thank god for dead soldiers, mr. snyder certainly interpreted that as referring to his son. afterall, matthew snyder was the only deceased marine/soldier. >> you said the signs targeted the family rather than the whole u.s. society. >> the god hates you and you are going to hell signs were the ones that the four circuit said they can avoid that issue because they can simply say it was paper and protected pursuant to it's interpretation under defamation law. and it's extension. >> do you think the epitaph is relevant as an explanation of some of these arguably ambiguous signs that were displayed at the funeral? for example, you are going to hell. god hates you. who is the you? if you read the epitaph, that sheds light on who you is. >> it can shed light. if you put this in the context of a funeral goer, justice z li- alito. >> the sign says you. you doesn't mean matthew snyder. it manes a larger group. then up the epic which is directly directly at matthew snyder. doesn't that show, shed light on what you meant on the

the epic specifically referenced matthew snyder by name, specifically referenced matthew's parents by name. so when our judgment and the defendant testified that the epic sort of explains at least in their explanation, explains the funeral protest itself. >> this is about a funeral. a meaning i understand there was a funeral and it but the first amendment question it seems to me a broader and different question. did your client see the signs for car i gather he didn't see the signs. he just saw the tops of sign so he didn't read anything on the signs. >> he didn't read the content. >> he hasn't seen it so how did your client find out that the signs, the tops of which he sought the funeral, when the demonstrators were standing with the approval of the police 300 feet away, how did he find out what they said? >> your speier honor, two days in advance they sent out a flyer announcing they were going to protest the funeral. they had matthew snyder's picture there. they claimed they would protest at saint john's. >> did they say -- my question is, how did your client find out these very ob

marine corps lance corporal matthew snyder died in iraq, non-combat related. and 2006 as friends and family were bearing the marine members of the westboro baptist church of topeka kansas showed up to inform the world that his dad was god's punishment for this nation's tolerance of homosexuality. it held up signs that said, thank god for dead soldiers, and god hates the u.s.a. and thank god for 9/11. the core cause father sued members of the church, for among other things, at inflicting emotional distress. the jury awarded him $11 million and reduced, but the appeals court threw out the verdict and this week the supreme court ruled 8-1 that as hateful as the speech was, it is nevertheless predicted by the first amendment. as "the wall street journal" put it the other day, even jerks are protected by the first amendment. do you agree? >> the court agreed. remember the word and that the? -- empathy. you have candidate for mr. snyder but the course job is not necessarily to have empathy, but to say what the rules are that govern the country. essentially what they

homosexuality and they don't hide these thoughts they took their protest to a funeral service for matthew snyder who died in iraq in two thousand and six the family many others up a theater of felt that this protest was so inappropriate they took the case to court and now after passing through federal courts the case of snyder versus phelps finally reached the hands of the supreme court and their decision in an eight to one ruling the justices decided in favor of the bout this side of their protests are protected under the first amendment documents from the decision explain well these messages may fall short of refined social or political commentary the issues they highlight the political and moral conduct of the united states and its citizens the fate of our nation homosexuality in the military and scandals involving the catholic clergy are matters of public import ok so these are green court justices ruled in favor of protecting the first amendment which i think is a great thing but come like this just this once i got to say i really wish that these westboro baptist could have been stopped whi

soldiers after they picketed outside marine matthew snyder's funeral, hisfather sued the church for emotionalll the way to the supreme court. the justices ruled 8-1 in favor of the church. chief justice john roberts writing, "simply put, the church members had the right to be where they were." still, roberts also wrote, "westboro's funeral picketing is certainly hurtful." >> we can no longer bury our dead in this country with dignity. what is this country becoming? >> reporter: margie phelps is the lead counsel of the church and daughter of its controversial pastor, fred phelps. after the decision she was 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

soldiers like matthew snyder who was killed in iraq.atthew's father says the protests stole his last moments with his son. he sued the church for emotional distress and got $5 million judgment. but the supreme court said in an 8-1 decision that the church doesn't owe snyder a dime. the church protests on a public sidewalk and on a matter of public concern were protected by the first amendment. in an interview with "cbs evening news" katie couric, snyder doesn't intervene others will. >> if the blood starts flowing let it be on supreme court justices hands. >> only one justice dissented alito saying the protests were verbal assault and didn't add anything to the public debate and, therefore, they could be banned. all they do he says is hurt the families who are simply trying to bury their loved ones. >> jan crawford, thank you. >>> in colorado, police believe a 12-year-old boy killed his parents and seriously jushed his two siblings. when police respond to do a 911 call from the family home on tuesday night, they found charles and marily

condemned, the supreme court ruled that the protest outside the 2006 funeral of slain marine matthew snyder who was not gay, was constitutional. >> our team's reaction is thank god, praise his name. the secondary reaction is nothing has changed except this. this case put a megaphone to the mouth of this little church. >> reporter: chief justice john roberts wrote the court 8-1 opinion citing the need to protect even hurtful speech to ensure we don't stifle public debate. for albert snyder, the ruling reopened the wound of his son's death. >> we found out today that we can no longer bury our dead in this country with dignity. >> reporter: in the dissent, justice samuel alito wrote that it doesn't provide a license for the vicious verbal assault that occurred in this case. at the supreme court, james rosen, fox news. chris? >> chris: james, thanks for that. 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 a

there was speech directed specifically to matthew snyder, the young marine who died here. he felt that what the court was saying here was, in effect, allowing these protestors to continue a strategy by which they got publicity for their ideas while at the same time ensuring that there be additional emotional serious emotional injury on innocent victims. he did not see that the first amendment protected this demonstration. >> woodruff: marcia, how unusual is it for the justices writing the opinion to, as you say, go out of their way to say that they feel sympathy for the losing side in the case? >> well, i said it seemed from his tone that he wanted people to understand that the court's sympathies were with the sniders but he did say in his opinion that he understood, the court understood, that this added to what he called the incalculable grief that mr. snyder felt. but he said its bedrock principles that the first amendment does not suppress or punish the expression of ideas that may cause distress or that we may find abhor rent. >> woodruff: is there ever reaction in the

when they brought that message to the funeral of matthew snyder, his father sued for emotional distress. but the supreme court said the protest was in a public place about public issues. john roberts said speech is powerful and can sptir people t action, move them to tears of joy and sorrow and inflict great pain. but he said the government cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker. matthew snyder's father was outraged. >> my first thought was eight justices don't have the common sense god gave a goat. we can no longer bury our dead in this country with dignity. what is this country becoming? >> reporter: but the kansas protesters call the decision god's will. >> we are going to finish this work and we are going to sprint running every day. >> reporter: the ruling also drew a response from sarah palin. quote, common sense and decency absent as wacko church allowed hate messages spewed at soldiers funerals but we can't invoke god's name in public square. >> the ruling does permit invoking god's name in the public square, but it also allows restrictions on protests at funerals. >

matthew snyder was a fighter. he made the supreme sacrifice for his country on march 3, 2006 while serving in iraq. his father has proven that the apple did not fall far from the tree. when protesters from the severely misguided westborough religious cult intruded upon matthews funeral. -- funeral, alberta came to court. what he prevailed in the lower court, he lost his recent supreme court decision by a vote of 8-1. nevertheless, thanks to the american legion writers and other supporters, we have been able to shield some families from the pain inflicted as the protesters shout out their hateful venom. his legal team worked for his case pro bono. other expenses have added up enormously. adding insult to injury, mr. snyder is responsible for paying the westborough churches court costs and legal fees. this is simply an outrage. and other you members, we have been able to raise a small sum of $26,458.58 for the fund. i would like to present this check in person to mr. snyder himself who is with us here today with his

marine matthew snider, killed in iraq in 2006. snyder's father sued. >> i think it's an insult to every veteran out there that has served this country. >> reporter: the supreme court ruled the phelps are protected by the first amendment, right to free speech. chief justice roberts wrote for the majority. westboro may have chosen the picket location to increase publicity for its views and its speech may have been particularly hurtful to snyder. that does not mean that its speech should be afforded less than full first amendment protection. eight of the nine justices agreed. >> liberals and conservatives have united in this, on the side of free speech. >> reporter: justice samuel alito dissented, saying the phelps intentionally inflicted pain on the snyders. our commitment to free debate is not a license for an attack on matthew and his family at a time of acute emotional vulnerability central to the church's well practiced strategy for attracting public attention. now the phelps and their anti-gay campaign have won their biggest shot of pub

>> this case involved marine corps glanced -- marine lance corporal matthew snyder who was killed onselects the catholic church in their home town of westminster, maryland, as the site for his son's funeral. this was yet another instance in which the westboro baptist church from topeka, kan., picketed and protested at a funeral. they have done this hundreds of times all over the country. their view seems to be that the united states is overly tolerant of sin and that got killed american soldiers as a deserved punishment. signs include saying god hates americans, america is doomed, thank god for dead soldiers. god hates you and you are going to hell, or the signs we see most directed at lance corporal snyder. the family brought an action for various tort liability claims, including intentional if it -- intellection of emotional distress, and prevailed in a jury verdict, including an $8 million punitive damage judgment that was permitted to $2 million. the supreme court held that that action was barred by the first amendment. the opinion by chief justice roberts insists the court's sen