EXCLUSIVE – Judge Judith Sheindlin helps recreate some of the most controversial court cases in American history in her new show, “Justice on Trial.”
The show, which was over 10 years in the making and finally premiered on Prime Video last Monday, revisits eight of the most monumental court cases in American memory — allowing the viewer to decide if justice was truly served with each verdict. The main lawyers featured on the show are Larry Bakman and Daniel Mentzer.
Episode seven features a re-telling of “Snyder v. Phelps,” in which a grieving father, Albert Snyder, sued Fred Phelps and his followers at the Westboro Baptist Church for emotional distress after church members protested his son Matthew’s military funeral. The churchgoers, as depicted in the episode, carried signs reading, “God Hates Your Son,” “Thank God for Dead Soldiers,” and “Thank God for 9/11,” to protest the military’s tolerance of homosexuality.
As Snyder noted during the trial, his son was not gay. The protesters were protesting the military at-large. The court showdown highlighted the legal boundaries of protected speech when it conflicts with potential harm to others.
JUDGE JUDY SHARES THE BEST PIECE OF PROFESSIONAL ADVICE SHE EVER RECEIVED AHEAD OF HER HONOR EVENT
A jury in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland agreed with Snyder and awarded him a total of $10.9 million, which the judge lowered to $5 million. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the judgment, holding that Phelps’ speech was protected by the First Amendment. The Supreme Court upheld the Fourth Circuit’s ruling.
The fiery Sheindlin had an opinion on the matter. While she and others may find the protesters’ signs “abhorrent,” she intoned that the Constitution does protect free speech.
“Totally uncaring for people who are religious people, totally uncaring about the emotional trauma that that kind of demonstration might have on the family,” Sheindlin said of the Westboro protests in an interview with Fox News Digital. “And yet the Supreme Court said in its decision that they had a right to express their views, even though their views were maybe abhorrent to the vast majority of Americans. I suppose you have to be able to… I wouldn’t want to tolerate seeing the American flag burned in protest in America. Just wouldn’t. It would offend me. But you have the right to do it. Is there a law that proscribes it? And I’d say probably not.”
So how do Americans reconcile their anger at a verdict with the Court’s constitutional responsibilities? Sheindlin began her answer by referencing the movie “American President.”
“I mean, we all would like our presidents to be like Michael Douglas, correct?