Judge: Westboro Protesters Free to Desecrate Flag

You can burn it, but you shouldn't wear it

(NEWSER) - In honor of Flag Day today, the Washington Post lists five of the most common myths about the national symbol:

• Betsy Ross made the first one: You’re probably sitting there shaking your head and saying, “Yes, she did!” but there’s no credible historical evidence. The story, which didn’t spring into being until 1870—a century after the first flag was made—is almost certainly a myth. Ross did, however, make American flags.

Westboro ruling insults troops, says Albert Snyder

(NEWSER) - The father of the dead Marine whose lawsuit was at the center of the Supreme Court's ruling on Westboro Baptist Church's right to protest funerals remains understandably ticked off at the "nut-job church," reports the York Dispatch . “We can no longer bury our dead in this country with dignity,” said Albert Snyder. But now he's not so happy with the Supreme Court, either: “I was very surprised,” he said of the ruling. “My first thought was that eight justices didn't have the common sense that God gave a goat.” More»

Anti-gay extremists hail Supreme Court decision

(NEWSER) - The Westboro Baptist Church reacted to its Supreme Court victory yesterday with its usual amount of tact and good grace. Gloating leaders of the Kansas-based extremist church vowed to quadruple the number of protests at military funerals now that the court has ruled such demonstrations are protected under the First Amendment, ABC News reports. Samuel Alito, the sole dissenting justice, "simply didn't follow his oath—he'll have to take that up with God," a church spokeswoman said. "I very much appreciate the fact that I get to be the mouth of God in this matter," she crowed. More»

Pickets might be 'outrageous,' but covered by 1st Amendment

(NEWSER) - John Roberts' Supreme Court ruled 8-1 today that the controversial Westboro Baptist Church pickets outside military funerals might be "outrageous," but they're also protected under the First Amendment. The ruling upholds a reversal of a lower court's $5 million award to a dead Marine's father, who sued Westboro members after they picketed his son's funeral. Samuel Alito was the lone dissenter, notes the AP. More»

Judge Vaughn Walker's findings are extensive, well-reasoned

(NEWSER) - Judge Vaughn Walker’s masterfully written ruling striking down Proposition 8 “was written for a court of one,” namely Anthony Kennedy, writes Dahlia Lithwick of Slate . Walker quotes extensively from Kennedy’s own findings (see Quotes, left), and his “findings of fact” section “knits together the trial evidence … to the nerves at the very base of Justice Kennedy’s brain.” These findings are so rigorous that “it’s hard to read Judge Walker’s opinion without sensing that what really won out was science, methodology, and hard work.” More»