Snyder v. Phelps Timeline

March 3, 2006: Marine Matthew Snyder is killed in Iraq
March 10, 2006: Matthew Snyder is buried. Reverend Fred Phelps and members of Westboro Baptist Church stage a protest 1,000 feet away from ceremony
June 5, 2006: Albert Snyder, the father, files a defamation suit against Phelps and Westboro Church
October 31, 2007: A jury rules in favor of Snyder and is awarded a $10.9 million verdict
February 4, 2008: A judge reduces the verdict to $5 million
September 24, 2009: The Fourth U.S. Circuit court of appeals rules in favor of Phelps, overturning the verdict
March 8, 2010: The U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear Snyder's appeal of the Fourth Circuit's decision in October when the next term begins
October 6, 2010: Case is heard by Supreme Court
March 2, 2011: Supreme Court rules 8-1 that Westboro's protesting is shielded by the First Amendment