Barrett-Fox, Rebecca. God Hates: Westboro Baptist Church, American Nationalism, and the Religious Right. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2016. 254 pp. $24.95 (cloth).

2018 ◽  
Vol 98 (2) ◽  
pp. 262-264
Author(s):  
Todd M. Brenneman
Keyword(s):  
Religious Right ◽  
Baptist Church ◽  
American Nationalism ◽  
Westboro Baptist Church

scholarly journals Comforted But Not Compensated? Mourners and Funeral Picketing in English Law

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 283-294
Author(s):  
Carolyn Shelbourn
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Canon Law ◽  
United States Supreme Court ◽  
The United States ◽  
Baptist Church ◽  
Westboro Baptist Church ◽  
Active Service ◽  
Day Services ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact

In recent years there have been protests at Armistice Day services and at the funeral of Margaret Thatcher, but these events seem insignificant compared to the impact of the ‘funeral picketing’ carried out in the United States by members of the Westboro Baptist Church, principally at the funerals of American forces personnel killed on active service. This has caused considerable distress to family members and wide public outrage. In 2011 the United States Supreme Court held in Snyder v Phelps that the right of freedom of speech of the WBC rendered them immune to claims for damages by mourners affected by their picketing. This article will first consider how English secular and canon law could be used to restrict the practice of funeral picketing and secondly discuss whether current law could provide a remedy for mourners distressed by funeral picketing and other forms of protest at funerals, were they to take place.

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