Crowds, protesters at high court for speech case

[October 06, 2010]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Members of a fundamentalist church are circling the Supreme Court in protest, brandishing an assortment of the kinds of mocking placards they've been carrying to military funerals

The justices are hearing argument later Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by the father of a dead Marine, who was outraged that members of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., picketed his son's funeral.

Five church members are holding up their placards. Among them is a young boy with a sign that reads "God Hates You."

A line of people who want to attend the argument stretches around the corner from the court atop Capitol Hill on a cool, cloudy morning.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.