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{{short description|American pastor and activist (1929–2014)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}}<!--[[WP:STRONGNAT]]-->
{{Use American English|date=December 2023}}
<!-- NOT OLYMPIAN'S DAD!
This Fred Phelps is a different person than the Fred Phelps who is the father of Olympian Michael Phelps.
-->
{{Infobox person
| name = Fred Phelps
| image = Fred Phelps 10-29-2002.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Phelps in 2002
| birth_name = Fred Waldron Phelps
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1929|11|13|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [[Meridian, Mississippi]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2014|03|19|1929|11|13|mf=y}}
| death_place = [[Topeka, Kansas]], U.S.
| organization = [[Westboro Baptist Church]]
| other_names =
| education = {{Unbulleted list
| [[Associate's degree]], [[Pasadena City College#School history|John Muir College]], 1951
| Law degree, [[Washburn University]], 1964
}}
| occupation = [[Pastor]], [[lawyer]]<ref name="phelps_dies_2014_03_20_wichita_eagle" />
| party = <!-- Please discuss on the talk page before editing party affiliation. Fred Phelps ran as a Democrat in multiple primaries and there is no indication that he switched his affiliation.
-->[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| title =
| spouse = {{marriage|Margie Marie Simms|1952<!--As marriage ended with his death, year is omitted per Template:Marriage instructions--->}}
| children = 13, including<br />[[Shirley Phelps-Roper]] and <br />[[Nathan Phelps]]<!--NOTABLE CHILDREN ONLY-->
| parents = <!--NOTABLE PARENTS ONLY-->
| relations = [[Megan Phelps-Roper]] (granddaughter)<!--NOTABLE RELATIVES ONLY-->
}}
'''Fred Waldron Phelps Sr.''' (November 13, 1929 – March 19, 2014) was an American [[Minister (Christianity)|minister]] and [[Disbarment|disbarred]] lawyer who served as the pastor of the [[Westboro Baptist Church]], worked as a civil rights attorney, and ran for statewide election in [[Kansas]]. A divisive and controversial figure, he gained national attention for his [[Homophobia|homophobic]] views and protests near the [[funeral]]s of gay people, [[AIDS]] victims, military veterans, and disaster victims whom he believed were killed as a result of God punishing the U.S. for having "bankrupt values" and tolerating homosexuality. Phelps founded the Westboro Baptist Church, a [[Topeka, Kansas]]-based independent [[Primitive Baptist]] congregation, in 1955. It has been described by the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] as "arguably the most obnoxious and rabid [[hate group]] in America".<ref name="CSM">[http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20160712030214/http://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/amphtml/USA/Society/2014/0320/Fred-Phelps-no-funeral-for-the-preacher-who-picketed-so-many-video Phelps: No funeral for the preacher who picketed so many.] ''[[Christian Science Monitor]]'' (March 20, 2014), retrieved September 27, 2016.</ref> Its signature slogan, "God Hates Fags", remains the name of the group's principal website.<!--<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.directnic.com/whois/index.php?query=godhatesfags.com|title=GodHatesFags.com registration information}}</ref> -->
In addition to funerals, Phelps and his followers—mostly his own immediate family members—picketed [[gay pride]] gatherings, high-profile political events, university commencement ceremonies, live performances of ''[[The Laramie Project]]'', and functions sponsored by [[Christians|mainstream Christian]] groups with which he had no affiliation, arguing it was their sacred duty to warn others of God's anger. He continued doing so in the face of numerous legal challenges—some of which reached the [[U.S. Supreme Court]]—and near-universal opposition and contempt from other religious groups and the general public.<ref name="abrams2006"/> Laws enacted at both the federal<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/30/AR2006053000134.html|title=Bush Says U.S. Must Honor War Dead|last=Pickler|first=Nedra|date=May 30, 2006|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|agency=The Associated Press|access-date=December 10, 2012}}</ref><ref>[http://veterans.house.gov/HR1627 Honoring America's Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130214093535/http://veterans.house.gov/hr1627|date=February 14, 2013}}, ''U.S. House of Representatives'' (accessed February 21, 2013)</ref><ref name="HP 20120806">{{cite news|last=Wing|first=Nick|title=Honoring America's Veterans Act Signed By Obama, Restricting Westboro Military Funeral Protests|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/06/honoring-americas-veterans-act-obama_n_1748454.html|work=The Huffington Post|access-date=January 16, 2013|date=August 6, 2012}}</ref> and state<ref>{{citation|url=http://cjonline.com/stories/032007/sta_157398869.shtml|title=Panel Sets Buffer Zone|last=Carpenter|first=Tim|date=March 20, 2007|work=[[The Topeka Capital-Journal]]|access-date=December 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140318210545/http://cjonline.com/stories/032007/sta_157398869.shtml|archive-date=March 18, 2014}}</ref> levels for the specific purpose of curtailing his disruptive activities were limited in their effectiveness due to the Constitutional protections afforded to Phelps under the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]].
[[LGBTQ movements|Gay rights supporters]] denounced him as a producer of [[homophobia|anti-gay]] propaganda and violence-inspiring [[hate speech]], and even Christians from fundamentalist denominations distanced themselves from him.<ref name="lauerman1999" /> In particular, Phelps and his church routinely targeted the [[Catholic Church]] with picket signs and online websites claiming that "priests rape boys" and "fag priests" and focusing on the [[Catholic Church sexual abuse cases|Catholic Church sex scandals]], calling the pope "The Godfather of pedophiles".<ref name="Barrett-Fox 2017 r226">{{cite web | last=Barrett-Fox | first=Rebecca | title=A Friendly Welcome to a Hate-Filled Church | website=The Chronicle of Higher Education | date=2017-01-29 | url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/a-friendly-welcome-to-a-hate-filled-church/ | access-date=2024-02-10}}</ref><ref name="Westboro Baptist Church Home Page 2018 m427">{{cite web | title=Westboro Baptist Church Preaching Signs | website=Westboro Baptist Church Home Page | date=2018-07-08 | url=https://www.godhatesfags.com/signs/index6.html | access-date=2024-02-10}}</ref><ref name="Drehle 2014 h053">{{cite magazine | last=Drehle | first=David Von | title=Good Riddance, Fred Phelps | magazine=TIME | date=2014-03-20 | url=https://time.com/32564/fred-phelps-westboro-baptist-obituary/ | access-date=2024-02-10}}</ref> Although Phelps died in 2014, the Westboro Baptist Church remains in operation. It continues to conduct regular demonstrations outside movie theaters, universities, government buildings, and other facilities in Topeka and elsewhere, and is still characterized as a hate group by the [[Anti-Defamation League]] and the Southern Poverty Law Center.<ref name="adlwbc">{{citation|url=http://www.adl.org/special_reports/wbc/default.asp |title=Westboro Baptist Church |author=Anti-Defamation League|author-link=Anti-Defamation League|access-date=December 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070308113420/http://www.adl.org/special_reports/wbc/default.asp |archive-date=March 8, 2007 }}</ref><ref name="potok2006">{{citation|last=Potok|first=Mark|year=2006|title=Hate Groups Increase Numbers, Unite Against Immigrants|journal=Intelligence Report|publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]]|issue=121|url=http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2006/spring/the-year-in-hate-2005}}</ref>
==Early life and education==
[[File:Fred Phelps as young man.jpg|thumb|Phelps in 1962]]
Fred Waldron Phelps was born on November 13, 1929, in [[Meridian, Mississippi]], the elder of two children of Catherine Idalette (née Johnston) and Fred Wade Phelps.<ref name="cjonline1994"/><ref name="phelps_dies_2014_03_20_wichita_eagle">{{cite web |title=Fred Phelps Sr., founder of Westboro Baptist Church, dies at 84 |url-access=subscription |website=Wichita Eagle |date=2014-03-20 |url=https://www.kansas.com/news/article1137753.html |access-date=2024-07-06}}</ref> His father was a [[railroad bull|railroad policeman]] for the [[Columbus and Greenville Railway (1923–1972)|Columbus and Greenville Railway]] and a devout [[Methodist]]; his mother was a homemaker.<ref name="phelps_dies_2014_03_20_wichita_eagle" /><ref name="cjonline1994">{{citation|url=http://cjonline.com/indepth/phelps/stories/080394_phelps01.shtml|title=The Transformation of Fred Phelps|last=Taschler|first=Joe|date=August 3, 1994|work=[[The Topeka Capital-Journal]]|access-date=December 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130301061252/http://cjonline.com/indepth/phelps/stories/080394_phelps01.shtml|archive-date=March 1, 2013}}</ref> Catherine Phelps died of [[esophageal cancer]] in 1935 at the age of 28.<ref name="cjonline1994"/> Her aunt, Irene Jordan, helped care for Fred and his younger sister Martha Jean until December 1944, when his father married Olive Briggs, a 39-year-old woman who was divorced.<ref name="cjonline1994"/>
Fred distinguished himself scholastically and was an [[Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)|Eagle Scout]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Mann|first=Fred|url=http://www.kansas.com/2012/12/18/2608194/2006-what-led-fred-phelps-to-his.html|title=2006: What led Westboro's Fred Phelps to his beliefs and actions?|newspaper=Wichita Eagle|date=December 18, 2012|access-date=March 16, 2014|archive-date=March 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140316213732/http://www.kansas.com/2012/12/18/2608194/2006-what-led-fred-phelps-to-his.html}}</ref> He also was a member of Phi Kappa, a high school social fraternity, president of the Young Peoples Department of Central United Methodist Church and was honored as the best drilled member of the Mississippi Junior State Guard, a unit similar to the [[Reserve Officer Training Corps]]. He graduated from high school at 16 years old, ranking sixth in his graduating class of 213 students, and was the class orator at his commencement.<ref name="phelps_dies_2014_03_20_wichita_eagle" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cjonline.com/article/20140320/NEWS/303209780|title=Phelps' life turned from brilliance to hatred|last=Biles|first=Jan|website=The Topeka Capital-Journal|language=en|access-date=May 18, 2019}}</ref> After graduating from high school he received an appointment to the [[United States Military Academy]] at [[West Point, New York|West Point]]; but after attending a tent revival meeting, decided to pursue a religious calling instead.<ref name="cjonline1994"/>
In September 1947, at the age of 17, he was ordained a [[Southern Baptist Convention|Southern Baptist]] minister and moved to [[Cleveland, Tennessee]], to attend Bob Jones College (now [[Bob Jones University]] in [[Greenville, South Carolina]]).<ref name="phelps_dies_2014_03_20_wichita_eagle" /><ref name="CSM"/> A combination of Phelps's refusal of the West Point appointment (which his father had worked hard to obtain), his abandonment of his father's beloved Methodist faith, and his father's remarriage to a divorced woman (Phelps would later become an outspoken critic of divorce) precipitated a lifelong estrangement from his father and stepmother—and by some accounts, from his sister as well. Phelps apparently never spoke to his family members again, and returned all of their letters and birthday cards, as well as Christmas gifts for his children, unopened.<ref>{{cite news|last=Taschler|first=Joe|author2=Steve Fry|url=http://cjonline.com/indepth/phelps/stories/080394_phelps14.shtml|title=Phelps at odds with father, sister|publisher=CJOnline|date=August 3, 1994|access-date=March 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031122060832/http://www.cjonline.com/indepth/phelps/stories/080394_phelps14.shtml|archive-date=November 22, 2003}}</ref>
Phelps dropped out of Bob Jones College in 1948.<ref name="TCJ">[http://cjonline.com/news/local/2014-03-20/phelps-life-turned-brilliance-hatred# Phelps' life turned from brilliance to hatred], ''Topeka Capital Journal'', March 20, 2014 (archives search); retrieved September 28, 2016.</ref> He moved to [[California]] and became a [[street preacher]] while attending [[Pasadena City College#School history|John Muir College]] in [[Pasadena, California|Pasadena]]. The June 11, 1951 issue of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine included a story on Phelps, who lectured fellow students about "sins committed on campus by students and teachers", including "promiscuous petting, evil language, profanity, cheating, teachers' filthy jokes in classrooms, and pandering to the lusts of the flesh." When the college ordered him to stop, citing a California law that forbade the teaching of religion on any public school campus, he moved his sermons across the street.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,814897,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224172403/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,814897,00.html|archive-date=December 24, 2007|title=Religion: Repentance In Pasadena|date=June 11, 1951|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=December 10, 2012}} (behind subscription wall)</ref> In October 1951, Phelps met Margie Marie Simms in [[Arizona]] and married her in May 1952.<ref name="phelps_dies_2014_03_20_wichita_eagle" /><ref name="splcenter2001"/>
In 1954, Phelps, his pregnant wife, and their newborn son moved to [[Topeka, Kansas]], where he was hired by the East Side Baptist Church as an associate pastor. The following year, the church's leadership opened Westboro Baptist Church on the other side of town, and Phelps became its pastor.<ref name="fate">{{cite news|title=Fate, timing kept Phelps in Topeka|first1=Joe|last1=Taschler|last2=Fry|first2=Steve|url=http://cjonline.com/indepth/phelps/stories/080394_phelps13.shtml|newspaper=Topeka Capital-Journal|date=August 3, 1994|access-date=September 13, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927070336/http://cjonline.com/indepth/phelps/stories/080394_phelps13.shtml|archive-date=September 27, 2012}}</ref>
Although the new church was ostensibly [[Independent Baptist]], Phelps preached a doctrine very similar to that of the [[Primitive Baptists]], who believe in scriptural literalism — that Christian biblical scripture is literally true — and that only a predetermined number of people selected for redemption before the world was created will be saved on [[Judgment Day]].<ref name="TCJ"/> His vitriolic preaching alienated church leaders and most of the original congregation, who either returned to East Side Baptist or joined other congregations, leaving him with a small following consisting almost entirely of his own relatives and close friends.<ref>[https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/9-things-you-should-know-about-fred-phelps-and-westboro-baptist-church 9 Things You Should Know About Fred Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church]. thegospelcoalition.org (March 14, 2009), retrieved October 3, 2016.</ref>
Phelps was forced to support himself selling vacuum cleaners, baby strollers, and insurance; later, some of his 13 children were reportedly compelled to sell candy door-to-door for several hours each day. In 1972, two companies sued Westboro Baptist for failing to pay for the candy being peddled by the children.<ref name="splcenter2001"/>
==Legal career==
===Civil rights cases===
====Early civil rights career====
Phelps earned a law degree from [[Washburn University]] in 1964, and founded the Phelps Chartered law firm.<ref name="phelps_dies_2014_03_20_wichita_eagle" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://cjonline.com/indepth/phelps/stories/080394_phelps16.shtml|title=Phelps' Law Career Checkered|work=[[The Topeka Capital-Journal]]|access-date=December 10, 2012|last1=Taschler|first1=Joe|last2=Fry|first2=Steve|date=August 3, 1994|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130101115350/http://cjonline.com/indepth/phelps/stories/080394_phelps16.shtml|archive-date=January 1, 2013}}</ref> In 1969, upon a finding of professional misconduct, authorities suspended him from practicing as a lawyer for two years.<ref name="phelps_dies_2014_03_20_wichita_eagle" />
Phelps' second notable cases were related to [[civil rights]], and his involvement in civil rights cases in and around Kansas gained him praise from local African-American leaders.<ref name="phelps_dies_2014_03_20_wichita_eagle" />
"I systematically brought down the [[Jim Crow]] laws of this town", he claimed.<ref name="lauerman1999">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/1999/03/man-who-loves-hate|title=The Man Who Loves To Hate|last=Lauerman|first=Kerry|date=March–April 1999|magazine=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]|access-date=December 10, 2012}}</ref> Phelps' daughter [[Shirley Phelps-Roper]]<!--which one??--> was quoted as saying, "We took on the Jim Crow establishment, and Kansas did not take that sitting down. They used to shoot our car windows out, screaming we were nigger lovers." She added that the Phelps law firm made up one-third of the state's federal docket of civil rights cases.<ref name="ocweekly1999">{{cite news|first=Donna|last=Ladd|url=http://www.ocweekly.com/1999-09-16/news/a-love-hate-thing/|title=A Love/Hate Thing|newspaper=[[OC Weekly]]|publisher=[[Voice Media]]|___location=Long Beach, California|date=September 9, 1999|access-date=December 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121130235001/http://www.ocweekly.com/1999-09-16/news/a-love-hate-thing/|archive-date=November 30, 2012}}</ref>
Phelps took cases on behalf of African-American clients alleging [[racial discrimination]] by school systems, and a predominantly black [[American Legion]] post which had been raided by police, alleging racially based police abuse.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Swenson|first=Scott|title=Fred Phelps Returns: Judgment Day|journal=[[The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide]]|date=2010|volume=17|issue=5|url=http://www.glreview.com/article.php?articleid=256|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114172331/http://www.glreview.com/article.php?articleid=256|archive-date=January 14, 2012}}</ref> Phelps' law firm obtained settlements for some clients.<ref name="taschler1994">{{cite news|first1=Joe|last1=Taschler|first2=Steve|last2=Fry|title=As a lawyer, Phelps was good in court|date=August 3, 1994|newspaper=[[The Topeka Capital-Journal]]|url=http://www.cjonline.com:80/indepth/phelps/stories/080394_phelps17.shtml|publisher=[[GateHouse Media]]|___location=Topeka, Kansas|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030720111243/http://www.cjonline.com/indepth/phelps/stories/080394_phelps17.shtml|archive-date=July 20, 2003|access-date=July 20, 2003}}</ref>
====''Johnson v. Topeka Board of Education'', et. al.====
Phelps' national notoriety first came from a 1973 lawsuit (settled in 1978) on behalf of a 10-year-old African-American plaintiff, Evelyn Renee Johnson (some sources say Evelyn ''Rene'' Johnson), against the [[Topeka, Kansas|Topeka]] Board of Education (which had, in 1954, famously lost the pivotal racial discrimination case of ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]],'' ending legal racial segregation in U.S. public schools), and against related local, state and federal officials. In the 1973 case, Phelps argued that the Topeka Board of Education, in violation of the 1954 ruling, had not yet made its schools equal, and by attending Topeka's east-side, predominantly minority schools, the black plaintiff had received an inferior education.<ref name="phelps_dies_2014_03_20_wichita_eagle" /><ref name="new_suit_1973_10_23_nytimes_com">Ayres, B. Drummond: [https://www.nytimes.com/1973/10/23/archives/nearly-20-years-after-landmark-court-case-new-suit-charges-topeka.html "New Suit Charges Topeka Schools Still Discriminate Racially,"] October 23, 1973, ''[[New York Times]],'' [[Optical character recognition|OCR]] text retrieved from the ''New York Times'' print archive, August 26, 2020</ref><ref name="twenty_years_1974_06_usccr">[https://books.google.com/books?id=w77DdV_RigoC&pg=PA17&lpg=PA17 ''Twenty Years After Brown: The shadows of the past:''] A report of the [[U.S. Commission on Civil Rights]], June 1974, p.17, footnote #15, retrieved from [[Harvard Law Library]] copy, as reproduced in [[Google Books]]' photocopy, August 26, 2020</ref>
Initially, Phelps attempted to file the case as a [[class action]], in the U.S. District Court for Kansas. Asking the court to order an end to the alleged discrimination and suggesting that busing might be at least one remedy, Phelps also sought $100 million in actual damages, plus another $100 million in punitive damages—or, alternatively, $20,000 for each of the 10,000 students he claimed were in the aggrieved class of victims.<ref name="phelps_dies_2014_03_20_wichita_eagle" /><ref name="new_suit_1973_10_23_nytimes_com" /> Nevertheless, the federal district and appellate courts denied the class action filing, limiting the case to Phelps's initial plaintiff, Evelyn Johnson, alone.<ref name="settlement_1979_04_18_gardencity_telegram">[https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/1631454/ "School Settlement,"] April 18, 1979, ''[[Garden City Telegram]],'' [[Garden City, Kansas]], [[Optical character recognition|OCR]] text retrieved from [[Newspapers.com]] August 26, 2020</ref>
The case fueled a national debate about [[racial integration]] of schools,<ref name="integration_1973_10_28_nytimes_com">[https://www.nytimes.com/1973/10/28/archives/fighting-an-old-war-on-same-front-school-integration-the-nation-a.html "School Integration,"] October 28, 1973, ''[[New York Times]],'' [[Optical character recognition|OCR]] text retrieved from the ''New York Times'' print archive, August 26, 2020</ref> and prompted the U.S. [[Department of Health, Education and Welfare]], by 1974, to order the Topeka board to develop corrective remedies.<ref name="twenty_years_1974_06_usccr" />
Topeka's school board did not contest the charges. On the guidance of its insurance provider, it settled the litigation (with no admission of wrongdoing) for $19,500—$12,400 of which went to Phelps. While the settlement drew some praise, controversy arose when the judge ordered the settlement amount sealed at the request of the insurer—apparently with Phelps's approval. (Details leaked out to the media anyway.) Phelps announced he would file more such cases, as class actions, but the insurance company stated it would not pay for any more of them.<ref name="phelps_dies_2014_03_20_wichita_eagle" /><ref name="new_suit_1973_10_23_nytimes_com" /><ref name="settlement_1979_04_18_gardencity_telegram" /><ref name="explanations_1979_04_17_manhattan_mercury">[https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/424063700/ "Explanations badly needed,"] editorial, April 17, 1979, ''[[Manhattan Mercury]],'' [[Manhattan, Kansas]], [[Optical character recognition|OCR]] text retrieved from [[Newspapers.com]] August 26, 2020</ref>
====Later civil rights career====
In 1986, Phelps sued President [[Ronald Reagan]] over Reagan's appointment of a U.S. ambassador to the [[Holy See|Vatican]], alleging this violated [[separation of church and state]]. The case was dismissed by the U.S. district court.<ref name="taschler1994"/><ref>{{cite court|url=https://www.justice.gov/osg/briefs/1986/sg860401.txt|litigants=American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A., et al., Petitioners v. Ronald W. Reagan, President of the United States of America, et al.|year=1986|access-date=December 10, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015002003/http://www.justice.gov/osg/briefs/1986/sg860401.txt|archive-date=October 15, 2012}}</ref>
Phelps' law firm, staffed by himself and family members, also represented non-white Kansans in discrimination actions against [[Kansas City Power and Light]], [[Southwestern Bell]], and the Topeka City Attorney, and represented two female professors alleging discrimination at Kansas universities.<ref name="ocweekly1999"/>
A defeat in his civil rights suit against the City of [[Wichita, Kansas|Wichita]] and others, on behalf of Jesse O. Rice (the fired executive director of the [[Wichita Civil Rights Equal Employment Opportunity Commission]]), among other causes, would lead to further legal actions ending in Phelps' disbarment and censure.<ref name="phelps_669_F_Supp_1047_leagle_com">{{cite court|url=https://www.leagle.com/decision/1981808637F2d171_1792/IN%20THE%20MATTER%20OF%20DISCIPLINARY%20PROCEEDINGS%20OF%20PHELPS|title=In the Matter of Fred W. PHELPS Sr., Respondent|number=85-212|volume=669 F.Supp. 1047|court=United States District Court, D.|___location=Kansas|date=September 11, 1987|via=Leagle.com|access-date=May 11, 2017}}</ref><ref name="phelps_637_F_2d_171_leagle_com">[https://www.leagle.com/decision/1981808637F2d171_1792/IN%20THE%20MATTER%20OF%20DISCIPLINARY%20PROCEEDINGS%20OF%20PHELPS "In the Matter of Disciplinary Proceedings of PHELPS No. 81-1022"], 637 F_2d 171 (1981), as transcribed at Leagle.com; retrieved May 11, 2017</ref>
In the 1980s, Phelps received awards from the [[Kansas City metropolitan area|Greater Kansas City]] Chapter of Blacks in Government and the [[Bonner Springs, Kansas|Bonner Springs]] branch of the [[NAACP]], for his work on behalf of black clients.<ref name="phelps_dies_2014_03_20_wichita_eagle" /><ref name="taschler1994"/>
One of his sons, [[Nate Phelps|Nate]], stated that Phelps largely took civil rights cases for money rather than principle. Nate said that his father "held racist attitudes" and he would use slurs against black clients: "They would come into his office and after they left, he would talk about how stupid they were and call them dumb niggers." Nate's sister, [[Shirley Phelps-Roper|Shirley]], denies his account and states their father never used racist language.<ref>{{cite web|first=John|last=Blake|url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/05/hate.preacher/index.html|title='Most-hated', anti-gay preacher once fought for civil rights|website=[[CNN]]|publisher=[[Turner Broadcasting System]]|___location=Atlanta, Georgia|date=May 5, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100506031526/http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/05/hate.preacher/index.html|archive-date=May 6, 2010}}</ref>
===Disbarment===
A formal complaint was filed against Phelps on November 8, 1977, by the Kansas State Board of Law Examiners, due to his conduct during a lawsuit, against a court reporter named Carolene Brady, who had failed to have a court transcript ready for Phelps on the day he asked for it. Although it did not affect the outcome of the case, Phelps sued her for $22,000.<ref name="google1979">{{cite web|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16353368333889772229|title=State v. Phelps, 598 P. 2d 180 – Kan: Supreme Court 1979|access-date=December 10, 2012}}</ref><ref name="openjurist1">{{citation|url=http://openjurist.org/662/f2d/649/phelps-v-kansas-supreme-court|title=662 F2d 649 Phelps v. Kansas Supreme Court|volume=F2d|issue=662|page=649|access-date=December 10, 2012|last1=Tenth Circuit}}</ref>
In the ensuing trial, Phelps called Brady to the stand, declared her a [[hostile witness]], and then [[cross-examination|cross-examined]] her for nearly a week, during which he accused her of being a "[[slut]]", tried to introduce testimony from former boyfriends whom Phelps wanted to [[subpoena]], and accused her of a variety of perverse sexual acts, ultimately reducing her to tears on the stand.<ref name="google1979"/><ref name="openjurist1"/>
Phelps lost the case. According to the [[Kansas Supreme Court]]:
{{blockquote|The trial became an exhibition of a personal vendetta by Phelps against Carolene Brady. His examination was replete with repetition, badgering, innuendo, belligerence, irrelevant and immaterial matter, evidencing only a desire to hurt and destroy the defendant. The jury verdict didn't stop the onslaught of Phelps. He was not satisfied with the hurt, pain, and damage he had visited on Carolene Brady.<ref name="google1979"/><ref name="openjurist1"/>}}
In an appeal, Phelps prepared [[affidavit]]s swearing to the court that he had eight witnesses whose testimony would convince the court to rule in his favor. Brady obtained sworn, signed affidavits from those eight people in question, all of whom said that Phelps had never contacted them and that they had no reason to testify against Brady.<ref name="google1979"/><ref name="openjurist1"/>
Phelps was found to have made "false statements in violation of DR 7–102(A)(5)". On July 20, 1979, Phelps was permanently disbarred from practicing law in the state of Kansas, although he continued to practice in federal courts.<ref name="google1979"/><ref name="openjurist1"/><ref name="phelps_669_F_Supp_1047_leagle_com"/><ref name="phelps_637_F_2d_171_leagle_com"/>
In 1985, nine Federal judges filed a disciplinary complaint against Phelps and five of his children, alleging false accusations against the judges. In 1989, the complaint was settled; Phelps agreed to stop practicing law in Federal court permanently, and two of his children were suspended for a period of six months and one year, respectively.<ref name="phelps_669_F_Supp_1047_leagle_com"/><ref name="phelps_637_F_2d_171_leagle_com"/><ref name="splcenter2001">{{citation|url=http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2001/spring/a-city-held-hostage/fred-phelps-timel|title=Fred Phelps Timeline|work=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]]|access-date=December 10, 2012}}</ref><ref name="phelps_dies_2014_03_20_wichita_eagle" />
==Family life==
Phelps married Margie M. Simms in May 1952, a year after the couple met at the Arizona Bible Institute. They had 13 children, 54 grandchildren, and 7 great-grandchildren.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/21/us/fred-phelps-founder-of-westboro-baptist-church-dies-at-84.html|title=Fred Phelps, Anti-Gay Preacher Who Targeted Military Funerals, Dies at 84|date=March 20, 2014|access-date=March 21, 2014|last=Paulson|first=Michael |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>
[[Nathan Phelps]], Fred Phelps' estranged son, claims that the elder Phelps was an [[child abuse|abusive]] father, that he (Nate) never had a relationship with him when he was growing up, and that the Westboro Baptist Church is an organization for his father to "vent his rage and anger."<ref name="anderson2006">{{cite news|first=Ric|last=Anderson|url=http://cjonline.com/stories/072306/loc_phelps.shtml|title=Phelps' Son Speaks Out|newspaper=[[The Topeka Capital-Journal]]|date=July 23, 2006|access-date=January 20, 2013|archive-date=September 29, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929095543/http://cjonline.com/stories/072306/loc_phelps.shtml}}</ref> He alleges that, in addition to hurting others, his father used to physically abuse his wife and children by beating them with his fists and with the handle of a [[mattock]] to the point of bleeding.<ref name="anderson2006"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/03/16/westboro.nate.phelps/index.html|title=Estranged Son of Anti-Gay Westboro Pastor Says Father Does 'Evil'|date=March 17, 2011|work=[[CNN]]|access-date=December 10, 2012}}</ref> Phelps' brother, Mark, has supported and repeated Nathan's claims of physical abuse by their father.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pitch.com/kansascity/the-new-fred/Content?oid=2183486|title=The New Fred|last=Kendall|first=Justin|date=November 2, 2006|work=[[The Pitch (newspaper)|The Pitch]]|access-date=January 20, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121226164820/http://www.pitch.com/kansascity/the-new-fred/Content?oid=2183486|archive-date=December 26, 2012}}</ref> Since 2004, over 20 members of the church, mostly family members, have left the church.<ref name="KCStar11212012">{{cite news|first=Dugan|last=Arnett|url=http://www.kansascity.com/2011/11/19/3275645/megan-phelps-roper-an-heir-to.html|title=Megan Phelps-Roper of Westboro Baptist Church: An heir to hate|newspaper=[[Kansas City Star]]|date=November 21, 2012|access-date=March 21, 2014}}</ref>
==Religious beliefs==
[[Image:WestboroBaptistChurch Opening.png|thumb|Advertisement for opening service of Westboro Baptist Church, ''[[Topeka Capital-Journal|Topeka Capital]]'', 1955]]
Phelps described himself as an [[Primitive Baptists|Old School Baptist]], and stated that he held to all [[five points of Calvinism]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.godhatesfags.com/faq.html|title=Westboro Baptist Church FAQ, Question 1|publisher=Godhatesfags.com|access-date=July 9, 2010}}</ref> Phelps particularly highlighted [[John Calvin]]'s doctrine of [[unconditional election]], the belief that God has elected certain people for salvation before birth, and [[limited atonement]], the belief that Christ only died for the elect, and condemns those who believe otherwise.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.godhatesfags.com/written/sermons/outlines/Sermon_20071230.pdf|title=Sermon Outline for Dec. 30, 2007|date=December 30, 2007|access-date=July 9, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327111518/http://www.godhatesfags.com/written/sermons/outlines/Sermon_20071230.pdf|archive-date=March 27, 2009}}</ref> Despite claiming to be an Old School Baptist, he was ordained by a [[Southern Baptist Convention|Southern Baptist church]], and was rejected and generally condemned by Old School (or Primitive) Baptists.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ydr.com/living/ci_16259961|title=The gospel according to Fred Phelps|publisher=The York Daily Record|date=February 24, 2014|access-date=March 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323210017/http://www.ydr.com/living/ci_16259961|archive-date=March 23, 2014}}</ref>
Phelps viewed [[Arminianism]] (particularly the views of the [[Methodist]] theologian William Elbert Munsey) as a "worse [[blasphemy]] and [[heresy]] than that heard in all filthy Saturday night fag bars in the aggregate in the world".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.godhatesfags.com/written/sermons/outlines/Sermon_20080907.pdf|title=Sermon Outline, September 7, 2008|date=September 7, 2008|access-date=July 9, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327111442/http://www.godhatesfags.com/written/sermons/outlines/Sermon_20080907.pdf|archive-date=March 27, 2009}}</ref>
In addition to [[John Calvin]], Phelps admired [[Martin Luther]] and [[Bob Jones Sr.]], and approvingly quoted a statement by Jones that "what this country needs is 50 [[Jonathan Edwards (theologian)|Jonathan Edwardses]] turned loose in it."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mars-hill-forum.com/forumdoc/m070opgu.html|title=Debate with John Rankin, opening statement|publisher=Mars-hill-forum.com|access-date=July 9, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080807155240/http://www.mars-hill-forum.com/forumdoc/m070opgu.html|archive-date=August 7, 2008}}</ref> Phelps particularly held to [[equal ultimacy]], believing that "God Almighty makes some willing and he leads others into sin", a view he said is [[Calvinism|Calvinist]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mars-hill-forum.com/forumdoc/m070quest.html|title=Debate with John Rankin, Q&A session|publisher=Mars-hill-forum.com|access-date=July 9, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014225625/http://www.mars-hill-forum.com/forumdoc/m070quest.html|archive-date=October 14, 2008}}</ref>
Phelps opposed such common Baptist practices as [[Sunday school]] meetings, Bible colleges and seminaries, and multi-denominational crusades.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.godhatesfags.com/written/wbcinfo/memoonthechurch.pdf|title=Memo on the Church|access-date=July 9, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090419130119/http://www.godhatesfags.com/written/wbcinfo/memoonthechurch.pdf|archive-date=April 19, 2009}}</ref> Although he attended Bob Jones University, and worked with [[Billy Graham]] in his Los Angeles Crusade before Graham changed his views on a literal [[Hell]] and salvation, Phelps considered Graham the greatest [[false prophet]] since [[Balaam]]. He also condemned large church leaders, such as [[Robert Schuller]] and [[Jerry Falwell]], as well as all [[Catholicism|Catholics]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.godhatesfags.com/written/sermons/outlines/Sermon_20070617.pdf|title=Sermon Outline, June 17, 2007|access-date=July 9, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327111536/http://www.godhatesfags.com/written/sermons/outlines/Sermon_20070617.pdf|archive-date=March 27, 2009}}</ref>
==Church protest activities==
{{Main|Westboro Baptist Church}}
[[File:Fred Phelps on his pulpit.jpg|thumb|Phelps at his [[pulpit]]]]
All of Phelps' demonstrations and other activities during the last 50 years of his life were conducted in conjunction with the congregation of [[Westboro Baptist Church]] (WBC), an American unaffiliated [[Baptist]] church known for its extreme ideologies, especially those [[Homophobia|against gay people]].<ref>{{cite web|title=God Hates Fags|url=http://www.godhatesfags.com/|publisher=Westboro Baptist Church|access-date=June 20, 2010}}
* {{cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/09/westboro-baptist-church-p_n_350766.html|title=Westboro Baptist Church Protests Outside Obama Girls' School|work=The Huffington Post|date=March 18, 2010|access-date=March 31, 2010|first=Rachel|last=Weiner|ref=none}}
* {{cite news|url=http://www.laweekly.com/2009-02-26/columns/h8ters-l-a-vacation-fred-phelps-146-antigay-baptists-come-out-on-oscar-night/|title=H8ters L.A. Vacation: Fred Phelps' Antigay Baptists Come Out on Oscar Night|last=Mikulan|first=Steven|date=February 25, 2009|work=L.A. Weekly|access-date=May 31, 2009|ref=none|archive-date=August 29, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090829195827/http://www.laweekly.com/2009-02-26/columns/h8ters-l-a-vacation-fred-phelps-146-antigay-baptists-come-out-on-oscar-night/}}
* {{cite news|url=http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=88362|title=Phelps Clan Met with Revelry and Frat Boys in Chicago|last=Melloy|first=Kilian|date=March 12, 2009|work=EDGE Boston|access-date=May 31, 2009|ref=none|archive-date=July 10, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710170644/http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=88362}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/School-plans-safe-show-554814.php|title=School Plans 'Safe' Show|first=Kenneth C. II|last=Crowe|___location=Albany, NY|work=[[Times Union (Albany)|Times Union]]|date=November 14, 2009|access-date=July 1, 2011}}</ref> The church is widely described as a [[hate group]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Westboro Baptist Church |url=http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/WBC/default.asp?LEARN_Cat=Extremism&LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_America&xpicked=3&item=WBC |publisher=[[Anti-Defamation League]] |access-date=June 20, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707223315/http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/WBC/default.asp?LEARN_Cat=Extremism&LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_America&xpicked=3&item=WBC|archive-date=July 7, 2010 }}
* {{Cite news|title=Hate group protests this week|url=http://temple-news.com/2010/03/30/hate-group-protests-this-week|date=March 30, 2010|work=[[The Temple News]]|publisher=[[Temple University]]|___location=Philadelphia|access-date=June 30, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100406033316/http://temple-news.com/2010/03/30/hate-group-protests-this-week|archive-date=April 6, 2010}}
* {{cite news|title=Interview with Westboro Baptist Church: Hate in the Name of God|ref=none|url=http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/293364 |date=June 16, 2010|first=W.V.|last=Fitzgerald|work=DigitalJournal.com|access-date=June 20, 2010 }}</ref> and is monitored as such by the [[Anti-Defamation League]] and [[Southern Poverty Law Center]]. It was headed by Phelps until his later years when he took a reduced role in the activities of the church and his family.<ref name="KCStar11212012"/> In March 2014, church representatives said that the church had not had a defined leader in "a very long time,"<ref name="tcj2014">{{cite news|url=http://cjonline.com/news/local/2014-03-16/wbc-founder-fred-waldron-phelps-sr-hospice-spokesman-confirms|title=Son of Fred Phelps Sr. says father voted out of church|newspaper=Topeka Capital-Journal|date=March 16, 2014|access-date=March 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161117222314/http://cjonline.com/news/local/2014-03-16/wbc-founder-fred-waldron-phelps-sr-hospice-spokesman-confirms|archive-date=November 17, 2016}}</ref> and church members consist primarily of his large family;<ref name="phelps_dies_2014_03_20_wichita_eagle" /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/05/05/hate.preacher/index.html|title={{-'}}Most-hated', anti-gay preacher once fought for civil rights|publisher=CNN|author=John Blake|date=March 14, 2010|access-date=May 20, 2010 }}</ref> in 2011, the church stated that it had about 40 members.<ref name=WBCBlog20111027>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.sparenot.com/workmen/2011/10/27/you-are-still-alive-now-is-the-time-to-repent|title=You Are Still Alive: NOW Is The Time To Repent|date=October 27, 2011|publisher=Westboro Baptist Church|access-date=November 11, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120110104729/http://blogs.sparenot.com/workmen/2011/10/27/you-are-still-alive-now-is-the-time-to-repent|archive-date=January 10, 2012}}</ref> The church is headquartered in a residential neighborhood on the west side of [[Topeka]] about three miles (5 km) west of the [[Kansas State Capitol]]. Its first [[Church service|public service]] was held on the afternoon of November 27, 1955.<ref name="date-sermon">{{cite web|url=http://www.godhatesamerica.com/sound/ghfsermons/OSBH19880131.mp3|title=Sermon preached by Fred Phelps|year=1987|access-date=January 14, 2012|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208014706/http://www.godhatesamerica.com/sound/ghfsermons/OSBH19880131.mp3|archive-date=December 8, 2006}}</ref>
The church has been involved in actions against [[homosexuality|gay people]] since at least 1991, when it sought a crackdown on homosexual activity at [[Gage Park, Topeka|Gage Park]] six blocks northwest of the church.<ref name="phelps_dies_2014_03_20_wichita_eagle" /><ref>Jones, K. Ryan (2008), ''Fall from Grace'' (documentary)</ref> In 2001, Phelps estimated that the WBC had held 40 pickets a week for the previous 10 years.<ref>{{citation|year=2001|title=Topeka: A City Bulled into Submission by the Westboro Baptist Church|journal=Intelligence Report|publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]]|issue=101|url=http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2001/spring/a-city-held-hostage}}</ref> In addition to conducting [[Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric|anti-gay]] protests at military funerals, the organization pickets other celebrity funerals and public events that are likely to gain media attention.<ref name="phelps_dies_2014_03_20_wichita_eagle" /><ref>{{cite news|last=Wing|first=Nick|title=Elizabeth Edwards Funeral To Be Picketed By Westboro Baptist Church|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/09/elizabeth-edwards-funeral-westboro-baptist-church_n_794333.html|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=December 9, 2010}}</ref> Protests have also been held against [[Jews]],<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sulzberger|first1=A. G.|last2=Moynihan|first2=Colin|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/22/nyregion/22westboro.html|title=Messages of Hate Met by Scorn and Shrugs|work=The New York Times|date=June 21, 2009|access-date=May 20, 2020}}</ref> and some protests have included WBC members [[Flag desecration#United States|stomping]] on the [[flag of the United States|American flag]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Protester arrested for letting son stomp flag|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna19080064|access-date=2021-06-27|website=NBC News|date=June 7, 2007 |language=en}}</ref>
===Lawsuit against Westboro Baptist Church===
{{main|Snyder v. Phelps}}
On March 10, 2006, WBC picketed the funeral of [[United States Marine Corps|Marine]] [[Lance Corporal]] Matthew A. Snyder, who died in combat in [[Iraq]] on March 3, 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-funeral-protests9-2010mar09,0,4930374.story|title=Supreme Court to Hear Case on Protests|last=Savage|first=David|date=March 9, 2010|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=December 11, 2012}}</ref><ref name="phelps_dies_2014_03_20_wichita_eagle" /> The Snyder family sued Fred Phelps for [[defamation]], [[invasion of privacy]], and [[intentional infliction of emotional distress]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8673839.stm| title=Supreme Court: Kagan's philosophy hard to define|last=Connolly|first=Katie|date=May 10, 2010|work=[[BBC Online]]|access-date=December 11, 2012}}</ref><ref name="phelps_dies_2014_03_20_wichita_eagle" />
On October 31, 2007, WBC, Fred Phelps and his two daughters, Shirley Phelps-Roper and Rebekah Phelps-Davis, were found liable for invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress. A federal jury awarded Snyder's father $2.9 million in compensatory damages, then later added a decision to award $6 million in [[punitive damages]] for invasion of privacy and an additional $2 million for causing emotional distress (a total of $10.9 million).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/topstories/2007-10-31-3928600499_x.htm|title=Jury awards father $11M in funeral case|date=November 1, 2007|work=[[USA Today]]|agency =The Associated Press|access-date=December 11, 2012}}</ref><ref name="phelps_dies_2014_03_20_wichita_eagle" />
The lawsuit named Albert Snyder, father of Matthew Snyder, as the plaintiff, and Fred W. Phelps Sr., Westboro Baptist Church, Inc., Rebekah Phelps-Davis, and Shirley Phelps-Roper as defendants, alleging that they were responsible for publishing defamatory information about the Snyder family on the Internet, including statements that Albert and his wife had "raised [Matthew] for [[the devil]]" and taught him "to defy his Creator, to divorce, and to commit [[adultery]]". Other statements denounced them for raising their son Catholic. Snyder further complained the defendants had intruded upon and staged protests at his son's funeral. The claims of invasion of privacy and defamation arising from comments posted about Snyder on the Westboro website were dismissed on [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] grounds, but the case proceeded to trial on the remaining three counts.<ref>{{Cite web|title=SNYDER v. PHELPS - 533 F.Supp.2d 567 (2008) - p2d56711043 - Leagle.com|url=https://www.leagle.com/decision/20081100533fsupp2d56711043|access-date=2021-06-27|website=Leagle|language=en}}</ref>
Albert Snyder, the father of LCpl Matthew A. Snyder, testified:
{{blockquote|They turned this funeral into a media circus and they wanted to hurt my family. They wanted their message heard and they didn't care who they stepped over. My son should have been buried with dignity, not with a bunch of clowns outside.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.newsline.umd.edu/justice/westboro-supreme-court-030211.htm|title=Supreme Court Upholds Anti-Gay Church's Protest Rights in Md. Case|last=Marso|first=Andy|date=March 2, 2011|work=Maryland Newsline|access-date=December 22, 2012}}</ref>}}
In his instructions to the jury, U.S. District Judge [[Richard D. Bennett]] stated that the First Amendment protection of free speech has limits, including vulgar, offensive and shocking statements, and that the jury must decide "whether the defendant's actions would be highly offensive to a reasonable person, whether they were extreme and outrageous and whether these actions were so offensive and shocking as to not be entitled to First Amendment protection". (see also ''[[Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire]]'', a case in which certain personal slurs and obscene utterances by an individual were found unworthy of First Amendment protection, due to the potential for violence resulting from their utterance). WBC sought a [[mistrial (law)|mistrial]] based on alleged prejudicial statements made by the judge and violations of the [[gag order]] by the plaintiff's attorney. An appeal was also sought by the WBC. On February 4, 2008, Bennett upheld the ruling but reduced the punitive damages from $8 million to $2.1 million. The total judgment then stood at $5 million. Court [[lien]]s were ordered on church buildings and Phelps' law office in an attempt to ensure that the damages were paid.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2004164853_apfuneralprotests05.html|title=Damages Reduced in Funeral Protest Case|date=February 5, 2008|work=The Seattle Times|agency=The Associated Press|access-date=December 11, 2012}}</ref>
An appeal by WBC was heard on September 24, 2009. The [[federal appeals court]] ruled in favor of Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church, stating that their picket near the funeral of LCpl Matthew A. Snyder is protected speech and did not violate the privacy of the service member's family, reversing the lower court's $5 million judgment. On March 30, 2010, the federal appeals court ordered Albert Snyder to pay the [[court costs]] for the Westboro Baptist Church, an amount totaling $16,510.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/29/father-of-dead-marine-ord_n_517614.html|title=Father of Dead Marine Ordered To Pay Legal Fees of Westboro Baptist Church Protesters|date=May 29, 2010|work=[[The Huffington Post]]|agency=The Associated Press|access-date=December 11, 2012}}</ref> [[Pundit (expert)|Political commentator]] [[Bill O'Reilly (political commentator)|Bill O'Reilly]] agreed on March 30 to cover the costs, pending appeal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/04/marine_scotus_040510w|title=Snyder-Phelps Fight has Many Twists, Turns|last=Lamothe|first=Dan|date=April 5, 2010|work=Marine Corps Times|access-date=December 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130324031812/http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/04/marine_scotus_040510w|archive-date=March 24, 2013}}</ref>
A [[writ of certiorari]] was granted on an appeal to the [[Supreme Court of the United States]], and the oral argument for the case took place on October 6, 2010. Margie Phelps, one of Fred Phelps' children, represented the Westboro Baptist Church.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna39531700|title=Court Hears 'Thank God for Dead Soldiers' Case|date=October 6, 2010|work=[[MSN]]|agency=The Associated Press|access-date=December 11, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120919215544/http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/39531700/ns/politics/|archive-date=September 19, 2012}}</ref>
The Court ruled in favor of Phelps in an 8–1 decision, holding that the protesters' speech related to a public issue, and was disseminated on a public sidewalk. Chief Justice [[John Roberts]] wrote, for the majority, "As a nation we have chosen ... to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate." Justice [[Samuel Alito]], the lone dissenter, wrote, "Our profound national commitment to free and open debate is not a license for the vicious verbal assault that occurred in this case."<ref name="snyder_v_phelps_us_supreme_court_ruling">{{citation|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/10pdf/09-751.pdf|title=Snyder v. Phelps et al.|last=Supreme Court of the United States|date=March 2, 2011|access-date=December 12, 2012}}</ref>
===Efforts to discourage funeral protests===
On May 24, 2006, the United States House and Senate passed the [[Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act]], which President [[George W. Bush]] signed five days later. The act bans protests within {{convert|300|ft|m}} of [[national cemetery|national cemeteries]] – which numbered 122 when the bill was signed – from an hour before a funeral to an hour after it. Violators face up to a $100,000 fine and up to a year in prison.<ref name="abrams2006">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052500431.html|title=Congress Bars Military Funeral Protesters|last=Abrams|first=Jim|date=May 25, 2006|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=December 11, 2012}}</ref><ref name="phelps_dies_2014_03_20_wichita_eagle" />
On August 6, 2012, [[Barack Obama|President Obama]] signed {{USPL|112|154}}, the Honoring America's Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012 which, among other things, requires a {{convert|300|ft|m|adj=on}} and 2-hour buffer zone around military funerals.<ref name="HP 20120806"/>
{{As of|2006|04}}, nine states had passed laws regarding protests near funeral sites immediately before and after ceremonies:
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Illinois]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Gov. Blagojevich Signs "Let Them Rest in Peace Act" Allowing Families to Peacefully Grieve Fallen Soldiers|date=May 17, 2006|url= http://www3.illinois.gov/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?SubjectID=1&RecNum=4891|access-date=December 11, 2012}}</ref>
* [[Indiana]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/ind-enacts-funeral-protest-law|title=Ind. Enacts Funeral-Protest Law|agency=The Associated Press|date=March 3, 2006|work=First Amendment Center|access-date=December 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330214816/http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/ind-enacts-funeral-protest-law|archive-date=March 30, 2014}}</ref>
* [[Iowa]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archive.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=16779|title=Iowa Governor Signs Bill Restricting Funeral Protests|agency=The Associated Press|date=April 18, 2006|work=First Amendment Center|access-date=December 11, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130414173231/http://archive.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=16779|archive-date=April 14, 2013}}</ref>
* [[Kansas]]<!--<ref>http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/14090898.htm {{Bare URL inline|date=July 2024}}{{Dead link|date=May 2010}}</ref>-->
* [[Kentucky]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archive.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=16699|title=Ky. Enacts Limits for Funeral Protests|agency=The Associated press|date=March 28, 2006|work=First Amendment Center|access-date=December 11, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130414180235/http://archive.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=16699|archive-date=April 14, 2013}}</ref>
* [[Louisiana]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/wwl041806jbfunerals.4b3d754c.html|title= Senate Committee Approves Bill to Limit Funeral Protests|last=Deslatte|first=Melinda|date=April 18, 2006|work=WWLTV|agency=The Associated Press|access-date=December 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107212142/http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/wwl041806jbfunerals.4b3d754c.html|archive-date=January 7, 2009}}</ref>
* [[Maryland]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://wjz.com/topstories/local_story_082070525.html|title=Funeral Protest Ban Clears Maryland House|agency=The Associated Press|date=March 23, 2006|work=WJZ|access-date=December 11, 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071223004335/http://wjz.com/topstories/funeral.protest.Annapolis.2.421340.html|archive-date=December 23, 2007}}</ref>
* [[Michigan]]<!--<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wlns.com/Global/story.asp?s=8945|archive-url=https://archive.today/20071012030705/http://www.wlns.com/Global/story.asp?s=8945|title=WLNS TV 6 Lansing Jackson Michigan News and Weather - WLNS.COM - Our ...|date=October 12, 2007|archive-date=October 12, 2007}}</ref>-->
* [[Missouri]]<!--<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/news/7597398/detail.html |title=Blunt Signs Funeral Protest Bill – Kansas City News Story – KMBC Kansas City |publisher=Thekansascitychannel.com |date=March 1, 2006 |access-date=July 9, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013223252/http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/news/7597398/detail.html |archive-date=October 13, 2007 }}</ref>-->
{{div col end}}
States that are considering laws are:
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Nebraska]]
* [[Ohio]]
* [[Oklahoma]]<!--<ref>[http://okinsider.com/topic_01OF0MMAHW/readstory.oki?storyid=0QX0W1CXY OkInsider.com – Selected News Story] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928161635/http://okinsider.com/topic_01OF0MMAHW/readstory.oki?storyid=0QX0W1CXY |date=September 28, 2007 }}</ref>-->
* [[South Carolina]]<ref>{{cite web|title=2005–2006 Bill 4965: Funeral Services|author=South Carolina General Assembly|date=May 21, 2006|url=http://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess116_2005-2006/bills/4965.htm|access-date=December 22, 2012}}</ref>
* [[South Dakota]]
* [[Texas]]
* [[Vermont]]
* [[Virginia]]
* [[West Virginia]]
* [[Wisconsin]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=20530&sec=36&con=4|title=Wisconsin Enacts Ban on Protests at Funerals|agency=The Associated Press|date=February 21, 2006|work=Worldwide Religious News|access-date=December 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080221141304/http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=20530&sec=36&con=4|archive-date=February 21, 2008}}</ref>
{{div col end}}
Florida increased the penalty for disturbing military funerals, amending a previous ban on the disruption of lawful assembly.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=33923|title=HB 7127 – Disturbance of Assemblies|date=June 20, 2006|access-date=December 12, 2012}}</ref>
On January 11, 2011, Arizona passed an emergency measure which prohibits protests within {{convert|300|ft|m}} of any funeral services, in response to an announcement by the WBC that it planned to protest at [[2011 Tucson shooting]] victim Christina Green's funeral.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-funeral-protest-20110112,0,7494257.story|title=Tucson Rallies to Protect Girl's Family from Protesters|last1=Mehta|first1=Seema|last2=Santa|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=December 12, 2012|first2=Nicole|date=January 11, 2011}}</ref>
These bans have been contested. Bart McQueary, having protested with Phelps on at least three occasions,<ref name="american2007">{{cite web|url=http://aclu-ky.org/content/view/352/149/|title=McQueary v. Stumbo|last=American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky|date=June 7, 2007|work=Freedom of Speech & Assembly|access-date=December 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100425022636/http://aclu-ky.org/content/view/352/149/|archive-date=April 25, 2010}}</ref> filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of Kentucky's funeral protest ban. On September 26, 2006, a district court agreed and entered an injunction prohibiting the ban from being enforced.<ref name="american2007"/> In the opinion, the judge wrote:
{{blockquote|Sections 5(1)(b) and (c) restrict substantially more speech than that which would interfere with a funeral or that which would be so obtrusive that funeral participants could not avoid it. Accordingly, the provisions are not narrowly tailored to serve a significant government interest but are instead unconstitutionally overbroad.<ref>{{Citation|title=McQueary v. Stumbo|date=September 26, 2006|url=https://scholar.google.com.au/scholar_case?case=17977822682763826148&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr|volume=453|page=975|access-date=2021-06-27}}</ref>}}
The [[American Civil Liberties Union]] filed a lawsuit in [[Missouri]] on behalf of Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church to overturn the ban on the picketing of soldier's funerals.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/22/AR2006072200643.html|title=ACLU Sues for Anti-Gay Group That Pickets at Troops' Burials|last=Burke|first=Garance|agency=The Associated Press|date=July 23, 2006|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=December 12, 2012}}</ref> The ACLU of Ohio also filed a similar lawsuit.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}}
In the case of ''[[Snyder v. Phelps]]'', the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that "distasteful and repugnant" protests surrounding funerals of service members were protected by the First Amendment. But attorneys for the service member's family appealed the decision on the grounds that such speech should not be allowed to inflict emotional distress on private parties exercising their freedom of religion during a funeral service. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case on October 6, 2010, and ruled 8–1 in favor of Phelps in an opinion released on March 2, 2011.<ref name="snyder_v_phelps_us_supreme_court_ruling" /><ref name="phelps_dies_2014_03_20_wichita_eagle" /> The court held that "any distress occasioned by Westboro's picketing turned on the content and viewpoint of the message conveyed, rather than any interference with the funeral itself" and thus could not be restricted.<ref name="snyder_v_phelps_us_supreme_court_ruling" /><ref name="upholds_2011_03_02_metro_weekly">{{cite web|url=http://www.metroweekly.com/poliglot/2011/03/supreme-court-upholds-westboro.html|title=Supreme Court Upholds Westboro Baptist Church Members' Right to Picket Funerals|last=Geidner|first=Chris|date=March 2, 2011|work=Metro Weekly|access-date=December 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130208053429/http://www.metroweekly.com/poliglot/2011/03/supreme-court-upholds-westboro.html|archive-date=February 8, 2013}}</ref><ref name="right_upheld_2011_03_02_cnn">{{Cite news | last = Mears | first = Bill | title = Anti-gay church's right to protest at military funerals is upheld | work = CNN.com | date = March 2, 2011 | url = http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/03/02/scotus.westboro.church/index.html?iref=allsearch | access-date = May 28, 2013}}</ref><ref name="why_2011_03_03_time_com">{{Cite news | last = Gregory | first = Sean | title = Why the Supreme Court Ruled for Westboro | newspaper = Time Magazine | date = March 3, 2011 | url = http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2056613,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110304231118/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2056613,00.html | archive-date = March 4, 2011 | access-date = August 28, 2013}}</ref>
===People targeted by Phelps===
[[File:Fred Phelps at Capitol.jpg|thumb|Phelps picketing outside the [[Kansas State Capitol]]]]
Beginning in the early 1990s, Phelps targeted numerous individuals and groups in the public eye for criticism by the Westboro Baptist Church.
Prominent examples include President [[Ronald Reagan]], [[Diana, Princess of Wales|Princess Diana]], Supreme Court Chief Justice [[William Rehnquist]], National Football League star [[Reggie White]], [[Sonny Bono]], comedian [[George Carlin]], [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], [[atheists]], Muslims, murdered college student [[Matthew Shepard]], children's television host [[Mister Rogers|Fred Rogers]], American televangelist [[Tammy Faye Bakker]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Tammy Faye memorial targeted by bigot Rev. Phelps|url=https://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/16184694.html|access-date=January 9, 2024}}</ref> Australian actor [[Heath Ledger]], [[Comedy Central]]'s [[Jon Stewart]] and [[Stephen Colbert]], political commentator [[Bill O'Reilly (political commentator)|Bill O'Reilly]], filmmaker [[Richard Rossi]], film critic [[Roger Ebert]],<ref>{{cite news|last=Child|first=Ben|title=Roger Ebert's funeral targeted by Westboro Baptist church|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/apr/08/roger-ebert-funeral-westboro-baptist-church|access-date=March 17, 2014|newspaper=The Guardian|date=April 8, 2013}}</ref> Catholics, Australians,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.godhatestheworld.com/australia/index.html|title=God Hates Australia|access-date=December 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116194805/http://www.godhatestheworld.com/australia/index.html|archive-date=January 16, 2013}}</ref> Swedes, the Irish, and US soldiers killed in [[Iraq]]. He also targeted the [[Joseph Estabrook Elementary School]] in [[Lexington, Massachusetts]], center of the David Parker controversy.
Phelps also picketed memorials to victims of different mass shootings, including the [[Misinformation|spreading of unfounded theories]], such as saying that [[Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold]], the perpetrators of the 1999 [[Columbine High School massacre]], were gay, saying that "Two filthy fags slaughtered 13 people at Columbine High."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cullen |first1=Dave |author1-link=Dave Cullen|title=Gay leaders fear Littleton backlash |url=https://www.salon.com/1999/04/27/gay/ |access-date=20 January 2022 |work=[[Salon.com]] |date=27 April 1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Watson |first1=J. |title=The Martyrs of Columbine: Faith and the Politics of Tragedy |date=2003 |publisher=[[Springer Publishing]] |___location=[[New York City]] |isbn=978-1-4039-7000-8 |page=90}}</ref>
In 2006, in the aftermath of the [[West Nickel Mines School shooting]], where five [[Amish]] girls were murdered, Phelps mocked the shooting, saying that it had been caused by Pennsylvania Governor [[Ed Rendell]]'s criticism of Westboro.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jerryson |first1=Michael |title=Religious Violence Today: Faith and Conflict in the Modern World [2 volumes] |date=2020 |publisher=[[ABC-Clio]] |___location=[[Santa Barbara, California]] |isbn=978-1-4408-5991-5 |page=237}}</ref> Phelps further planned a protest at the funeral for the five girls murdered, but called it off, opting to spread their messages on a local radio station instead.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/anti-gay-kansas-church-cancels-protests-at-funerals-for-slain-amish-girls|title=Anti-Gay Kansas Church Cancels Protests at Funerals for Slain Amish Girls|last=Bonisteel|first=Sara|date=October 4, 2006|work=[[Fox News Channel]]|access-date=December 11, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130122053846/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,217760,00.html|archive-date=January 22, 2013}}</ref>
Phelps continued picketing funerals and memorials for victims of mass shootings during the late 2000s, including the plan to picket the memorial for two victims of the [[Northern Illinois University shooting]] in 2008, which was countered by a preacher who hosted a seminar against Phelps' views.<ref>{{cite news |title=Anti-gay group to protest NIU funerals |url=https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/02/18/Anti-gay-group-to-protest-NIU-funerals/23831203356044/ |work=[[United Press International]] |date=18 February 2008}}</ref> After Phelps announced plans, as aforementioned, to picket the funeral of the youngest victim of the [[2011 Tucson shooting]] on Congresswoman [[Gabby Giffords]], Phelps responded to the emergency legislation which banned him from doing so, by praising the shooter, [[Jared Lee Loughner]], saying: "Thank God for the violent shooter", and labeled Loughner as a "hero".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jan/11/christina-taylor-green-funeral-westboro-baptist-church|title=Religious extremists banned from picketing Arizona shooting funeral
|last=McGreal|first=Chris|date=January 11, 2011|work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> In 2007, he stated that he would target [[Jerry Falwell]]'s funeral.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/anti-gay-kansas-church-members-plan-to-picket-falwell-funeral/|title=Anti-Gay Kansas Church Members Plan to Picket Falwell Funeral|last=Bonisteel|first=Sara|date=May 17, 2007|work=[[Fox News Channel]]|access-date=March 12, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213205835/http://www.foxnews.com/story/2007/05/17/anti-gay-kansas-church-members-plan-to-picket-falwell-funeral/|archive-date=February 13, 2015}}</ref>
In August 2007, in the wake of the [[Minneapolis]] [[I-35W bridge collapse]], Phelps and his congregation stated that they would protest at the funerals of the victims. In a statement, the church said that Minneapolis is the "land of the Sodomite damned".<ref>Black, Eric [http://www.minnesotamonitor.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2184 "Fred Phelps is Coming"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927033032/http://www.minnesotamonitor.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2184|date=September 27, 2007}}, ''Minnesota Monitor'', August 7, 2007.</ref>
==Political activities==
===Anti-gay===
In the movie ''Hatemongers'', members of the Westboro Baptist Church state their children were being "accosted" by homosexuals in [[Gage Park, Topeka|Gage Park]], about a {{frac|2}}{{spaces}}mile {{nowrap|({{convert|1/2|mi|m|sigfig=1|disp=out}})}} from the Phelps' home and a mile {{nowrap|({{convert|1|mi|disp=out}})}} northwest of Westboro Baptist Church. [[Shirley Phelps-Roper]] says that, in the late 1980s, Fred Phelps claimed to have witnessed a homosexual attempting to lure her then five-year-old son Joshua into some shrubbery. After several complaints to the local government about the large amount of homosexual sex occurring in the park, with no resulting action, the Phelpses put up signs warning of homosexual activity. This resulted in much negative attention for the family. When the Phelpses called on local churches to speak against the activity in Gage Park, the churches also lashed out against the Phelps family, leading to the family protesting homosexuality on a regular basis.<ref name="ocweekly1999"/><ref name="phelps_dies_2014_03_20_wichita_eagle" />
In 2005, Phelps and his family, along with several other local congregations, held a signature drive to bring about a vote to repeal two city ordinances that added sexual orientation to a definition of [[hate crime]]s and banned the city itself from workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation. Enough signatures were collected to bring the measure to a vote.<ref>{{citation|url=http://cjonline.com/stories/022705/mid_primaryquestion.shtml|title=Issue Becomes a Line in the Sand for Some|last=Hrenchir|first=Tim|work=[[The Topeka Capital-Journal]]|date=February 27, 2005|access-date=December 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408131929/http://cjonline.com/stories/022705/mid_primaryquestion.shtml|archive-date=April 8, 2014}}</ref> Topeka voters defeated the repeal measure on March 1, 2005, by a 53–47% margin. In the same election, Phelps' granddaughter Jael was an unsuccessful candidate for the Topeka City Council, seeking to replace Tiffany Muller, the first openly gay member of the council.<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7053489|title=Topeka Voters Reject Repeal of Anti-Bias Law|date=March 2, 2005|work=[[MSN]]|access-date=December 10, 2012}}</ref>
===
[[File:Fred Phelps and other Westboro Baptist Church protesters at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston on 7-27-2004 (4).jpg|thumb|Phelps speaking at a picket at the [[2004 Democratic National Convention]]]]
Phelps ran in Kansas [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] primaries five times, but never won. These included races for governor in 1990, 1994, and 1998, receiving about 15 percent of the vote in 1998.<ref>{{citation|url=http://edition.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/08/05/kansas.results/|title=Kansas Primary Results|work=[[CNN]]|publisher=August 4, 1998|access-date=December 10, 2012}}</ref> In the 1992 Democratic Party primary for U.S. Senate, Phelps received 31 percent of the vote.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.kssos.org/elections/elections_statistics.html|title=Election Statistics|publisher=State of Kansas|access-date=December 10, 2012}}</ref> Phelps ran for mayor of Topeka in 1993<ref name="musser1">{{citation|url=http://cjonline.com/indepth/phelps/musser.shtml|title=In-Depth: Fred Phelps|last=Musser|first=Rick|work=[[The Topeka Capital-Journal]]|access-date=December 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121230064559/http://cjonline.com/indepth/phelps/musser.shtml|archive-date=December 30, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{citation|url=http://www.religionnewsblog.com/1128/kansas-anti-gay-church-embarrasses-topekans|title=Kansas Anti-gay Church Embarrasses Topekans|last=Evans|first=Melissa|date=November 4, 2002|access-date=December 10, 2012}}</ref> and 1997.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}
Phelps supported [[Al Gore]] in the [[Democratic Party presidential primaries, 1988|1988 Democratic Party presidential primary]] election. In his [[United States Senate election in Tennessee, 1984|1984 Senate race]], Gore had opposed a "gay bill of rights" and stated that homosexuality was not something that "society should affirm", a position Gore had publicly changed by 2000 as his official position. Phelps stated that he supported Gore because of these earlier comments.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Andrea Drusch|access-date=2020-09-18|title=Fred Phelps: 10 things to know|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/fred-phelps-westboro-baptist-church-104745.html|website=POLITICO|date=March 17, 2014 }}</ref>
In 1996 Phelps opposed Clinton's (and Gore's) re-election because of the administration's support for [[gay rights]]; the Westboro congregation picketed a 1997 inaugural ball.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.qrd.org/qrd/media/radio/thiswayout/summary/newswrap/1997/461-01.27.97|title=NewsWrap|last=Friedman|first=Cindy|date=January 27, 1997|access-date=December 10, 2012}}</ref>
===Saddam Hussein===
In 1997, Phelps wrote a letter to Iraqi President [[Saddam Hussein]], praising his regime for being "the only Muslim state that allows the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to be freely and openly preached on the streets".<ref name="ITOW">{{cite web|url=http://www.adl.org/special_reports/wbc/wbc_on_america.asp|title=In Their Own Words: On America|publisher=Anti-Defamation League|year=2006|access-date=December 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005150347/http://www.adl.org/special_reports/wbc/wbc_on_america.asp|archive-date=October 5, 2012}}</ref>
==Arrests and traveling restrictions==
===
In 1994, Phelps was convicted of disorderly conduct for verbal harassment, and received two suspended 30-day jail sentences.<ref name="splcenter2001"/><ref name="musser1"/>
Phelps' 1995 conviction for assault and battery carried a five-year prison sentence, with a mandatory 18 months to be served before he became eligible for parole. Phelps fought to be allowed to remain free until his appeals process went through. Days away from being arrested and sent to prison, a judge ruled that Phelps had been denied a [[speedy trial]] and that he was not required to serve any time.<ref name="splcenter2001"/><ref name="musser1"/>
=== Canada===
In August 2008, Canadian officials learned of WBC's intent to stage a protest at the funeral of [[Killing of Tim McLean|Tim McLean]], a [[Winnipeg]] resident who was killed on a bus. The protests intended to convey the message that the man's murder was God's response to Canadian laws permitting abortion, homosexuality, divorce and remarriage. In response, Canadian officials barred the organization's members from entering the country.<ref>{{cite news |date=8 August 2008 |title=Church members enter Canada, aiming to picket bus victim's funeral |newspaper=CBC |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/church-members-enter-canada-aiming-to-picket-bus-victim-s-funeral-1.703285 |access-date=January 14, 2013}}</ref>
===United Kingdom===
On February 18, 2009, two days before the Westboro Baptist Church's first UK picket, the United Kingdom [[Home Office]] announced that Fred Phelps and Shirley Phelps-Roper would be refused entry and that "other church members could also be flagged and stopped if they tried to enter Britain".<ref>{{cite news|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/7898972.stm?lss|title=Anti-Gay Preachers Banned from UK|date=February 19, 2009|work=[[BBC Online]]|access-date=December 10, 2012}}</ref> In May 2009, he and his daughter Shirley were placed on the [[Home Office]]'s [[List of individuals banned from entering the United Kingdom|list of people barred from entering the UK]] for "fostering hatred which might lead to inter-community violence".<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/may/05/list-of-people-banned-from-uk|title=The Home Office List of People Banned from the UK|work=The Guardian|date=May 5, 2009|access-date=December 10, 2012}}</ref>
==In the media==
In 1993, Phelps appeared on a first-season episode of the talk show ''[[Ricki Lake (TV series)|Ricki Lake]]'', alleging that homosexuals and "anyone who carries the AIDS virus" deserved to die. When Phelps and his son-in-law Charles Hockenbarger (married to Phelps' daughter Rachel) became increasingly belligerent, Lake ordered the Phelps family to leave the studio. During a commercial break, the two were forced off the set and escorted out of the building by security.<ref>[https://www.baltimoresun.com/1993/12/06/respect-earns-ricki-lake-success-on-tv/ "Respect earns Ricki Lake success on TV"] from ''[[Baltimore Sun]]'' (December 6, 1993)</ref> After Phelps died, Lake [[Twitter|tweeted]] that when he had been on the show, he had told her that she worshipped her own rectum — a remark that led her to take action off-stage to have Phelps removed from the set.<ref>{{cite tweet|number=446772962150989824|user=RickiLake|title=#FredPhelps was on my original talk show in 1993 where he told me I worshipped my rectum. I threw him out mid-show. #GoodRiddanceFredPhelps|date=March 20, 2014}}</ref>
The Phelps family was the subject of the 2007 TV program ''[[The Most Hated Family in America]]'', presented on the [[BBC]] by [[Louis Theroux]].<ref>{{cite news|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6507971.stm|title=America's Most Hated Family|last=Theroux|first=Louis|date=March 30, 2007|work=[[BBC Online]]|access-date=December 12, 2012}}</ref> Four years after his original documentary, Theroux produced a follow-up program ''[[America's Most Hated Family in Crisis]]'', which was prompted by news of family members leaving the church.<ref>{{citation|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12919646|title=Westboro Baptist Church Revisited|last=Theorux| first=Louis|date=March 31, 2011|work=[[BBC Online]]|access-date=December 12, 2012}}</ref> Phelps' son [[Nathan Phelps|Nate]] has broken ranks with the family and in an interview with [[Peter W. Klein]] on the Canadian program ''The Standard'', he characterized his father as abusive and warned the Phelps family could turn violent.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/joe-cutbirth/phelps-son-says-god-hates_b_533132.html|title=Phelps' Son Says "God Hates Fags" Church Could Turn Violent| last=Cutbirth|first=Joe|date=April 11, 2010|work=[[The Huffington Post]]|access-date=December 12, 2012}}</ref> Writing in response to Phelps' death in 2014, Theroux described Phelps as "an angry bigot who thrived on conflict", and expressed the view that his death would not lead to any "huge changes" in the church, as he saw it as operating with the dynamics of a large family rather than a cult.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://louistheroux.com/thoughts-on-the-passing-of-pastor-phelps-and-the-wesboro-baptist-church|title=Thoughts on the Passing of Pastor Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church|date=March 22, 2014|access-date=March 25, 2014|archive-date=March 25, 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140325160123/http://louistheroux.com/thoughts-on-the-passing-of-pastor-phelps-and-the-wesboro-baptist-church}}</ref> Theroux returned for a third documentary in 2019, titled ''[[Surviving America's Most Hated Family]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.her.ie/entertainment/new-louis-theroux-documentary-itching-see-airs-weekend-472888|title=The new Louis Theroux documentary we're all itching to see airs this weekend|website=Her.ie|date=July 13, 2019 |language=en|access-date=July 14, 2019}}</ref>
[[Kevin Smith]] produced a [[Horror (genre)|horror]] film titled ''[[Red State (2011 film)|Red State]]'' featuring a religious fundamentalist villain inspired by Phelps.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1598264/20081030/story.jhtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101117041319/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1598264/20081030/story.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 17, 2010|title=Kevin Smith Eschews Comedy in Favor of Horror For 'Red State' – But Will It Ever Get Made?|last=Adler|first=Shawn|date=October 31, 2008|work=MTV|access-date=December 12, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.nme.com/filmandtv/news/casting-for-kevin-smiths-political-horror-red-state-begins/181331|title=Casting for Kevin Smith's Political Horror 'Red State' Begins|date=August 4, 2010|work=[[NME]]|access-date=December 12, 2012}}</ref>
Phelps appeared in ''[[A Union in Wait]]'', a 2001 [[Sundance Channel (United States)|Sundance Channel]] documentary film about same-sex marriage, directed by [[Ryan Butler]] after Phelps picketed [[Wake Forest Baptist Church]] at [[Wake Forest University]] over a proposed same-sex union ceremony.
==Excommunication and death==
Fred Phelps preached his final Sunday sermon on September 1, 2013. Five weeks later, sermons resumed from various members.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.godhatesfags.com/audio/index.html |title=Sermons, Parodies, Hymns And Other Audio From Westboro Baptist Church |publisher=Godhatesfags.com |access-date=March 20, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Fred Phelps Sr: 'on the edge of death'|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/faith/fred-phelps-sr-on-the-edge-of-death-9198142.html|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|date=March 18, 2014}}</ref>
On March 15, 2014, [[Nathan Phelps]], Phelps' estranged son, reported that Phelps was in very poor health and was receiving [[hospice]] care.<ref name="path2014">{{cite web|url=http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2014/03/15/fred-phelps-founder-of-the-god-hates-fags-westboro-baptist-church-is-on-the-edge-of-death/|title=Fred Phelps, Founder of the 'God Hates Fags' Westboro Baptist Church, is on the 'Edge of Death'|publisher=Patheos|date=March 15, 2014|author=Hemant Mehta|author-link=Hemant Mehta}}</ref> He said that Phelps had been [[Excommunication|excommunicated]] from the church in August 2013, and then moved into a house where he "basically stopped eating and drinking".<ref name=path2014 /><ref name="wap2014">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/founder-of-anti-gay-kansas-church-in-care-facility/2014/03/16/e9fc6ad8-ad2a-11e3-b8b3-44b1d1cd4c1f_story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140316234308/http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/founder-of-anti-gay-kansas-church-in-care-facility/2014/03/16/e9fc6ad8-ad2a-11e3-b8b3-44b1d1cd4c1f_story.html|archive-date=March 16, 2014|title=Founder of anti-gay Kansas church in care facility|newspaper=Washington Post|date=March 17, 2014}}</ref><ref name="phelps-excommunication">{{cite news|last=Fry|first=Steve|title=Elders excommunicate Phelps after power struggle, call for kindness within church|url=http://m.cjonline.com/news/2014-03-17/elders-excommunicate-phelps-after-power-struggle-call-kindness-within-church|access-date=March 20, 2014|newspaper=The Topeka Capital-Journal|date=March 17, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160730201037/http://m.cjonline.com/news/2014-03-17/elders-excommunicate-phelps-after-power-struggle-call-kindness-within-church|archive-date=July 30, 2016}}</ref> His statements were supported by his brother, Mark. Church spokesman Steve Drain declined to answer questions about Phelps' excommunication, and denied that the church had a single leader.<ref name=Biles>{{cite news|title=Son of Fred Phelps Sr. says father voted out of church. WBC spokesman: Church doesn't have a designated leader of church, adding WBC doesn't operate that way|url=http://cjonline.com/news/local/2014-03-16/son-fred-phelps-sr-says-father-voted-out-church|access-date=March 16, 2014|newspaper=[[Topeka Capital-Journal]]|date=March 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161229222652/http://cjonline.com/news/local/2014-03-16/son-fred-phelps-sr-says-father-voted-out-church|archive-date=December 29, 2016}}</ref> The church's official website said that membership status is private and did not confirm or deny the excommunication.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.sparenot.com/|title=Recent Media FAQ|work=godhatesfags.com|date=March 16, 2014|access-date=March 17, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140411035432/http://blogs.sparenot.com/|archive-date=April 11, 2014}}</ref>
Phelps died of natural causes shortly before midnight on March 19, 2014, at the age of 84.<ref name="Hanna">{{cite news|last=Hanna|first=John|title=Anti-gay pastor Fred Phelps Sr. dies|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/anti-gay-pastor-fred-phelps-sr-dies-84-22986518|newspaper=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]}}</ref><ref name="BBC 967">{{cite news|title=Anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church leader Fred Phelps dies|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-26669967|work=[[BBC]]|date=March 20, 2014|access-date=March 20, 2014}}</ref><ref name="cnn-fredphelpsdead">{{cite news|last=Burke|first=Daniel|title=Westboro church founder Fred Phelps dies|url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/20/us/westboro-church-founder-dead/|access-date=March 20, 2014|newspaper=CNN.com|date=March 20, 2014}}</ref> His daughter, [[Shirley Phelps-Roper|Shirley]], stated that a funeral for her father would not be held because the church does not "worship the dead".<ref name="cnn-fredphelpsdead" /> According to Nathan Phelps, Fred Phelps' body was immediately cremated,<ref name="Traumatic Loss">{{cite book |last1=Thompson|first1=Neil|last2=Cox|first2=Gerry R.|last3=Stevenson|first3=Robert G.|date=January 28, 2017|title=Handbook of Traumatic Loss A Guide to Theory and Practice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nqfZDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT458|publisher=Routledge|page=286|isbn=978-1-138-18233-2}}</ref> and according to his granddaughter [[Megan Phelps-Roper]], Phelps' cremated remains were buried in an unmarked grave in Kansas.<ref>{{cite book |title=Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church |last1 = Phelps-Roper|first1 = Megan|date = October 8, 2019}}</ref>
Phelps had been reportedly suffering from some form of [[dementia]] in his final year, and started behaving
irrationally. This led to church members believing that God had condemned him.<ref>{{cite book |title=Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church |isbn = 978-0-374-71581-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NZmEDwAAQBAJ&q=unfollow+gramps+was+the+heretic+now&pg=PT382 |access-date=January 22, 2020|last1 = Phelps-Roper|first1 = Megan|date = October 8, 2019| publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux }}</ref> It has been stated that Phelps "had a softening of heart at the end of his life,"<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Chen |first1=Adrian |title=Conversion via Twitter |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/11/23/conversion-via-twitter-westboro-baptist-church-megan-phelps-roper |magazine=The New Yorker |date=November 16, 2015 |access-date=March 3, 2020}}</ref> according to accounts published in a memoir written by Phelps' granddaughter Megan Phelps-Roper, and reporting from ''[[The New Yorker]]'' citing former members of the church.<ref name="Chen 2015">{{cite magazine |last1=Chen |first1=Adrian |title=Conversion via Twitter |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/11/23/conversion-via-twitter-westboro-baptist-church-megan-phelps-roper |magazine=The New Yorker |date=November 16, 2015 |access-date=May 6, 2020 |language=en}}</ref> This includes an incident in 2013, in which Phelps is said to have stepped outside the church and called over to members of [[Planting Peace]], a nonprofit organization that bought a house on the other street and painted it with an LGBTQ rainbow, saying: "You're good people!"<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lasdun |first1=James |title=Kinks and Convolutions |url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v42/n04/james-lasdun/kinks-and-convolutions |journal=The London Review of Books |date=February 9, 2020 |volume=42 |issue=4 |access-date=March 3, 2020}}</ref> In an interview with ''[[NPR]]'', Megan Phelps-Roper said this outburst was "the proximate cause" of Phelps being excommunicated,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gross |first1=Terry |title=Fresh Air, October 11 2019 | url=https://www.npr.org/transcripts/768894901 |website=WBFO NPR |date=October 10, 2019 |publisher=NPR |access-date=March 3, 2020}}</ref> a claim that the church has denied.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mangan |first1=Lucy |title=Louis Theroux: Surviving America's Most Hated Family review – a deeply uncomfortable watch |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jul/14/louis-theroux-surviving-americas-most-hated-family-review-a-deeply-uncomfortable-watch |website=The Guardian |date=July 14, 2019 |access-date=March 3, 2020 |quote="On the other hand, Theroux hears a persistent rumour that Gramps died excommunicated after shouting "You're good people" at the gay rights charity HQ across the street. Did dementia strip him down to a better man at the core? Was it a moment of simple madness that meant nothing? Or was it, of course, demonic possession? It seems clear, however, that something has shaken members. Is the gentler preaching a sign that cracks in the certainties upon which Gramps's church was built are starting to appear? No one is willing to admit the event even happened."}}</ref> According to Phelps' grandson and former church member Zach Phelps-Roper, Phelps' actions were regarded as "rank blasphemy" by the church members.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/23/fred-phelps-equality_n_5378433.html|title=Fred Phelps May Have Had A Change Of Heart Toward Gays, Relative Says|first=Cavan|last=Sieczkowski|date=May 23, 2014|via=Huff Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=644133125676725&id=427599210663452|title=Equality House|website=www.facebook.com}}</ref>
==Electoral history==
'''Democratic primary for [[Governor of Kansas]], 1990'''
* [[Joan Finney]]: 81,250 (47.18%)
* [[John W. Carlin|John Carlin]]: 79,406 (46.11%)
* Fred Phelps: 11,572 (6.72%)
'''Democratic primary for [[United States Senate]], Kansas 1992'''
* Gloria O'Dell: 111,015 (69.20%)
* Fred Phelps: 49,416 (30.80%)
'''Democratic primary for Governor of Kansas, 1994'''
* [[Jim Slattery]]: 84,389 (53.02%)
* [[Joan Wagnon]]: 42,115 (26.46%)
* [[Jim Francisco]]: 16,048 (10.08%)
* Leslie Kitchenmaster: 11,253 (7.07%)
* Fred Phelps: 5,349 (3.36%)
'''Democratic primary for Governor of Kansas, 1998'''
* [[Tom Sawyer (Kansas politician)|Tom Sawyer]]: 88,248 (85.28%)
* Fred Phelps: 15,233 (14.72%)<ref>See {{cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=22659|title=Fred Phelps|date=September 2, 2012|access-date=December 12, 2012}} for all election statistics</ref>
== Family tree ==
{{Phelps family tree}}
==See also==
{{Portal bar|Biography|Kansas|Mississippi|LGBTQ}}
* [[Burke family (Castlebar)]]
* [[Christian terrorism]]
* [[Christianity and homosexuality]]
* [[Hate group]]
* [[The Bible and homosexuality]]
{{clear|right}}
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Wikinews category}}
<!-- Please read the guidelines at [[Wikipedia:External Links]] BEFORE adding new links here! Keep in mind that Wikipedia is not a collection of links, that's what Google is for. New links should provide an essential supplement to the content and links already in the article; if it's not something new and significantly different from what is here already, please don't add it on. Thanks.
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* [https://www.cjonline.com/news/local/2014-03-20/phelps-life-turned-brilliance-hatred Phelps' life turned from brilliance to hatred] from [[The Topeka Capital-Journal]]
: ''For external links related to [[Westboro Baptist Church]] and not Phelps specifically, [[Westboro Baptist Church#External links|see this section]].''
; Biographical information
* {{IMDb name|1662196}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phelps Sr., Fred Waldron}}
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