it was what westborough said that expose it to tort damages so the chief justice use that to show the case turned entirely on the content of what was said. the possibility of a jury of awarding punitive damages can punish not just the interference but whether they agree with the message or disagree with the message being conveyed. what i want to emphasize is i think to those of you is that the court, this is what we hope to do by filing an amicus brief for members of the senate, the court said we are not deciding and not passing on the fluidity of the 44 state statutes which attempt to protect funerals of protest or either of the two federal statutes in question. and i think it might be well to take a careful look at your state statutes and at the court's opinion and to see if there was even a possibility of expanding the statutes. that is, of creating a larger buffer zone than the 100 or 150 seats that is in some of the state statutes which of course you are talking 33, 30 or 35 yards, not very far for a family having a funeral or a time, place and manner. no matter what your message

the high court voted 8-1 in favor of the westborough baptist church of toe pea topeka, kansas. that throws out the $5 million judgment against the church. the father of a dead marine sued the church. church members say the deaths in afghanistan and iraq are punishment for homosexuality. >>> a man's body was found inside of a jewelry store last night on mason street. the grim discovery came while police were checking on the welfare of the unidentified man. homicide detectives have joined this investigation but police are not saying how the man had died. >>> residents in vallejo are blaming a limited police presence for an increase in prostitution. the police department says the number of officers on the street has gone from 155 to 90 since the city filed for bankruptcy. and since the cut, more prostitutes have been seen along sonoma boulevard. so residents have performed a patrol and their mission is to push out prostitutes. >> we establish a preps. we take back our neighborhood -- a presence. we take back our neighborhood. >> the patrol takes pictures of prostitutes and notes w

the westborough baptist church raised as a defense the first amendment and the lower appellate courtd that the first amendment did protect this speech and overturned a jury verdict in favor of the family. >> woodruff: so what was the main question, then, before the justices. >> whether the first amendment protected this speech. chief justice roberts wrote the opinion today and this morning in the courtroom he read a summary of that opinion and it was very clear, i think, from his tone that he really wanted people to understand how the court reached the decision and that the court's sympathy-- if not the law-- is with the snyders. he began by saying "the issue before the court is whether the speech, the messages on the pickets was a matter of public concern or private concern. matters of public concern, he explained, have special protection under the first amendment because the amendment reflects our national commitment to a robust and wide open debate on ideas. so how do you decide, he said, what is a matter of public concern or private concern? he said you look at the speech and all

the supreme court judge ruled in favor of protecting the constitutional rights of the westborough baptist -- westboro a baptist church to spread hatred at the funeral support soldiers. yet we would restrict the right to those who want to express themselves through dance and creativity. banning the right to protest would have set a precedent that could have lead to meaningful protests by others being banned in the future. the same president must be applied here. one could argue that most electronic music rarely if ever carries explicit or negative messages, but the medium of music itself has been used to express meaningful political opinions. based on this court ruling, to restrict one style of live performance is an assault on the entire political medium. the only types of free speech that can be built are those that are obscene, slanderous, or inside violence. electronic music does not follow any of these restrictions. this bill is clearly unconstitutional. my friend lives for afghanistan in 10 days. he uses electronic music to get his soldiers through the war as separate as possible. he

producer that there has been a message posted that appears to be from anonymous on downloads that westborough baptist church dot com and anonymous are you taking responsibility for this you know we just did it right know this for a second. i've pretty good gotta admit and those are just a few examples but it turns out that there is a civil war if you will between the current members of anonymous and former members of the group now call themselves backtrace security according to backtrace the acts and honest numbers the current how actors have moved away from their initial purpose of anonymous which was lighter more fun loving with nihilistic roots but now they're happy to seem to pursue political causes so backtrace is doing their best to stop the current members by revealing their true. identities and owners spawns anonymous is trying to beat the group of exes with their own game i'm going to spare you all the details of the he said she said part of the battle but both sides are desperately trying to oust the real identities of the other party members and i'm sure that hacking skills are goi

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 pro bono attorney. [applause] >> the symbolic check behind us -- we all know the check is not in the mail. it is literally here. this is for him. we hope that there is much more to come. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much. as a proud member of 791 -- [laughter] -- [applause] i appreciate everything you do. all of us know the words "duty, honor, and sacrifice." mr. snyder knows the word "sacrifice" more than some of us ever will. mr. snyder is a kind individual who made a huge sacrifice for our country. he has become a very dear friend. without further ado, here is mr. snyder. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. i cannot express pinkies enough. the veterans have probably been my biggest supporters over the past 4.5 years. i do not think i could have done withou

it was what westborough said that expose it to tort damages so the chief justice use that to show the case turned entirely on the content of what was said. the possibility of a jury of awarding punitive damages can punish not just the interference but whether they agree with the message or disagree with the message being conveyed. what i want to emphasize is i think to those of you is that the court, this is what we hope to do by filing an amicus brief for members of the senate, the court said we are not deciding and not passing on the fluidity of the 44 state statutes which attempt to protect funerals of protest or either of the two federal statutes in question. and i think it might be well to take a careful look at your state statutes and at the court's opinion and to see if there was even a possibility of expanding the statutes. that is, of creating a larger buffer zone than the 100 or 150 seats that is in some of the state statutes which of course you are talking 33, 30 or 35 yards, not very far for a family having a funeral or a time, place and manner. no matter what your message

it was what westborough said that expose it to tort damages so the chief justice use that to show the case turned entirely on the content of what was said. the possibility of a jury of awarding punitive damages can punish not just the interference but whether they agree with the message or disagree with the message being conveyed. what i want to emphasize is i think to those of you is that the court, this is what we hope to do by filing an amicus brief for members of the senate, the court said we are not deciding and not passing on the fluidity of the 44 state statutes which attempt to protect funerals of protest or either of the two federal statutes in question. and i think it might be well to take a careful look at your state statutes and at the court's opinion and to see if there was even a possibility of expanding the statutes. that is, of creating a larger buffer zone than the 100 or 150 seats that is in some of the state statutes which of course you are talking 33, 30 or 35 yards, not very far for a family having a funeral or a time, place and manner. no matter what your message

the controversial westborough church came out in support of the play. >> i want to represent the fact is not going to tolerate the anti-homosexual he tour whwere heating rhetoric. >> we have to show these people that they're not what san jose is all about. >> of that play when gone without disruption. and that the church that usually demonstrates that the funeral of the soldiers. this past week also had a free-speech right. >> the antioch and torturing and murdering her niece, in december 20th 08. she is scheduled to stand trial in may. she beat them with cords, burned them with a hot iron. authorities civic jasmine died with malnutrition with long-term physical abuse. and if committed? twisted hospital. >> and a court order against a gang activity. hundreds gathering at this plaza. the gang in junction under consideration by the alameda county judge would require the 10:00 p.m. curfew and also permit gay members from associating with a four- block area. this action could lead to racial profiling. no word on when a judge could rule on that issue. >> isabel: your weather coming up. >>

after the supreme court's decision, the westborough church is now targeting a san jose school. tom church members will picture gunder son. and play about mathew shepherd. members of the local gay, less we upand transgender say there will be a -- lesbian, transgender say there will be a protest. even more counter protests are planned on social networking sites. student actors have been told they could opt out of this play. so far, none has chosen to do that. tomorrow night is the last performance of the play. >>> taking a live look at the big board on wall street. wow. look at that. oil prices easing below $200 a barrel. the unrest in libya is one of the reasons the market's down. one of the reasons the markets are up. also, the number of people filing for first-time unemployment benefits dropped by 20,000 last week. that puts it at $368,000, the lowest number in nearly three years. analysts had forecast a slight increase. applications were less than 425,000 tend to indicate modest job growth. >>> a major oil company is blocking bonuses of several executives. bp announced it is

later chris wallace hosts the westborough baptist church. at 3:00 p.m., candy crowley talks with -- and former national security advisor, steven hadley. finally, it is "face the nation" from cbs. bob sheiffert talks with john kerry. the -- the reairs begin at noon with "meet the press," 1:00, "this week," 2:00, fox news sunday, and at 3:00 p.m., "face the nation." listen to them all on c-span radio. nationwide on xm satellite radio channel 132 or go online to c-span radio.org. >> pauline maier is on "in depth" today. her latest "ratification" was published last year. join us taking your phone calls, e-mails, and tweets today at noon eastern. wamp previous programming at booktv.org. >> as cabinet members meet with their departments, watch online at the c-span video library. sitch, watch, clip and share. it is washington your way. "washington journal" continues. host: thanks for being with us. guest: thank you. host: we know what we saw in 2010, the role of the supreme court that opened up a number of third-party groups for republicans and dem

last week, the supreme court ruled that the westborough baptist church has the right to protest investment fashion -- at the hem that fashion at military funerals. i can tell you that there is nothing more somber, there is nothing more important to this nation that we recognize those individuals who sacrificed in support of that constitution and in support of all of us. and yet the constitution does permit that because there is that tension between the collective interest and self interests. no matter how a port, no matter how detestable, we have to protect that speech. we certainly could permitted to be 1,000 feet away and guarantee other things, but we have to recognize that speech as well. there is that constant tension between these values. both of those values, i would submit, are ones that we have to uphold. an example from 150 years ago, the tenants stephen decatur said at a dinner, he stood out and gave the following toast. our country in our intercourse with foreign nations, may she always be in the right, whether our country is right or wrong. i think that is something seized upo

press for legislation to make the picketing and protest at funerals a little bit harder for the westboroughtist church. i know one person that has been with me the whole time and that was matt. matt was so loyal son and he was a loyal friend and brother. and i know that matt would be supporting s 100%, because he would not want to see another family go through what we what through. just keep fighting. if you get a chance to talk to your legislators, ask them to introduce bills. you have my undying gratitude for everything you ever done for me and my family. thank you. [applause] >> up next, abc news anchor back ofsawyer looks your career in broadcast journalism. then on "washington journal", we get an update on libya and the health care law. "washington journal" at 7:00 a.m. eastern. later, a couple of the beds about the political unrest in the middle east. foreignmorocco's minister. live coverage from the brookings institution at 10:30 a.m. eastern. and from the carnegie endowment for international peace, the president of the american university in cairo will give her perspective on the re