Lower Court Holding
Decision of the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
In June 2006, Albert Snyder instituted this diversity action in the District of Maryland against Westboro Baptist Church, Incorporated, and several of its members. Snyder’s lawsuit is predicated on two related events: a protest Defendants conducted in Maryland near the funeral of Snyder’s son Matthew (an enlisted Marine who tragically died in Iraq in March 2006), and a self-styled written “epic” that the Defendants posted on the Internet several weeks after Matthew’s funeral. Snyder’s complaint alleged five State law tort claims, three of which are implicated in this appeal: invasion of privacy by intrusion upon seclusion, intentional infliction of emotional…
