A Supreme Court ruling means that military families will continue to face the possibility of an extra helping of grief should they have to bury a service member.

The Rev. Fred Phelps has become the bane of families of deceased military personnel all across America. His cultlike Westboro Baptist Church congregation travels from its home in Topeka, Kan., to funerals of service members bearing picket signs with messages that include "Thank God for 9/11," "You're Going to Hell" and "God Hates You."

Military families have responded by seeking injunctions to keep Phelps' pickets well away from their memorial services, and some have even sued Westboro Baptist Chuprch for damages. The Supreme Court threw out a $5 million damage award to the father of Marine Matthew Snyder on March 2, saying in an 8-1 ruling that the First Amendment protects Westboro's right to express its views on current issues, even in a manner that offends.

Church members, most of whom come from Rev. Phelps' family, protest at military funerals out of their view that the deaths of American armed forces members in Iraq, Afghanistan and other faraway conflicts are God's punishment for America's tolerance of homosexuality.

Justice Samuel Alito dissented from the ruling, writing in his opinion, "Our profound national commitment to free and open debate is not a license for the vicious verbal assault that occurred in this case."

The court ruling means that military families must prepare for the possibility of such verbal assaults should their service member die. While the ruling means that families and cemeteries cannot ban protesters from funerals, they can still restrict how close they get to the funeral site. Depending on what the protesters do, families may have to reroute funeral processions to avoid encountering the picketers as well. In addition to consulting with their funeral director, military families should also contact local police or sheriff's officers to see what kind of restrictions can be obtained.