Today's the day that Reverend Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church are standing before the Supreme Court in a First Amendment case relating to their military funeral protests. The justices appeared to be struggling with some of the complexities of the case, which include complaints from Albert Snyder, whose son died in Iraq in 2006, that the church posted an insulting poem on their website attacking Snyder and his wife. "To what extent can [a church] put that on the Internet?" Justice Stephen Breyer asked. "I don't know what the rules ought to be."

Shirley Phelps-Roper, Fred's daughter and occasional Fox News guest, responded to questioning by CBS News outside the Supreme Court thusly: "Do you understand what a public right of way is? What gives you the right to cover that funeral? What gives you the right to run a news story about it? I'll tell you. Pick me. The first stinking amendment."

Media groups have quietly urged the court to side with the Phelpses in this case, because not to would be to erode free speech rights. 42 Senators and some veterans groups have urged the court to side with Snyder, reinstating his $11 million verdict against the church. What say you, SFist readers?

Previously: SFist Interviews Pastor Fred Phelps, Gets His Take on Same-Sex Marriage