'America's Doomed': Free Speech or Unlawful Hate Mongering?

Nov. 2, 2007— -- Are there limits to free speech? Is some speech so hateful that it should be punished? This week a jury said yes, saying a fringe church must pay nearly $11 million in damages for disturbing a funeral.

Members of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., often picket the funerals of soldiers. As family members arrive to grieve the loss of their loved one, the picketers confront them with screaming, cruel songs and signs saying things like "America Is Doomed."

Shirley Phelps-Roper and her brother Tim Phelps carry on the campaign their father Fred, founding pastor of the church, began decades ago.

"Repent, dummies! The wrath of God is upon you. It's abiding upon you," said Shirley Phelps-Roper at one protest. "America's doomed. Your destruction is upon you."

They do this, they say, because those who die are receiving punishment from God.

"[Punishment] for sin, unrepentant sins, idolatry, fornication," said Tim Phelps. "That's the religion of this nation: My God is me. I serve myself."

"20/20 interviewed Fred Phelps 14 years ago, when his picketing had become the talk of Topeka. Phelps focused mostly on homosexuality and denied that his protests were "cruel harrassment."

"Desperate times require desperate measures," he said. And it was clear that he delighted in his cause, telling "20/20" that "this is so much fun" while faxing messages of hate, and laughing about those who die from AIDS.

Today, nine of Fred Phelps' 13 children carry on his work -- almost all of the 70 or so members of the church are members of his family. Shirley and Tim helped move the Phelps' message to the Internet. They also created music videos, for songs like "God Hates the World and All Her People." A documentary on the Phelps, called "Fall from Grace," will air on Showtime next month.

The clan now travels the country, picketing disasters everywhere and saying that all catastrophes are caused by the sins of a nation that supports homosexuals.