Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin clarified a response she offered to the Supreme Court's decision to uphold an appeals court ruling that protesting outside military funerals is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The high court voted 8-1 in favor of the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church on Wednesday.
Just hours after the ruling was struck down, Palin took to Twitter and wrote, "Common sense & decency absent as wacko "church" allowed hate msgs spewed@ soldiers' funerals but we can't invoke God's name in public square."
Palin sought to clarify her remarks in an exclusive statement issued to the Daily Caller. She signaled she agrees with the decision of the Supreme Court.
"Obviously my comment meant that when we're told we can't say 'God bless you' in graduation speeches or pray before a local football game but these wackos can invoke God's name in their hate speech while picketing our military funerals, it shows ridiculous inconsistency," Palin told TheDC. "I wasn't calling for any limit on free speech, and it's a shame some folks tried to twist my comment in that way. I was simply pointing out the irony of an often selective interpretation of free speech rights."
The AP relays background on the ruling issued by the high court:
The court voted 8-1 in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan. The decision upheld an appeals court ruling that threw out a $5 million judgment to the father of a dead Marine who sued church members after they picketed his son's funeral.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion for the court. Justice Samuel Alito dissented.
Roberts said free speech rights in the First Amendment shield the funeral protesters, noting that they obeyed police directions and were 1,000 feet from the church.
According to ABC News, Westboro leaders said shortly after the ruling that the church intends to "quadruple" the number of demonstrations it holds nationwide going forward.