At the hearing early in December, Smith appeared by video link from prison to argue his own case for the interview request to be reconsidered. Smith’s life imprisonment was imposed in 1996. He has been considered for parole several times since 2009, but so far parole has been declined.
Phillip John Smith argued for his freedom of expression. Smith’s case to be released was harmed when he absconded while on leave from prison in 2014, and reached Brazil before being recaptured and returned to New Zealand. The Department of Corrections refused the request of
Stuff journalist Harrison Christian to interview Smith in November 2017.
husband suggest she may well run for president? announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is nightline, october 6th, 2010. good evening. i m cynthia mcfadden. we begin tonight with religion and free speech and the explosive intersection of the two. the westboro baptist church is known for picketing the funerals of u.s. soldiers and marines in protest over what the church sees as the ills of american society. gays, in particular. today, their free speech case ended up before the supreme court, but we wanted to know more about who they are and what they believe. to get answers, my co-anchor terry moran boarded the westboro van for our series, faith matters. reporter: they re shocking. god showed his wrath to thee reporter: they re cruel and outrageous, and for most americans, simply beyond the pale. thank god for dead soldiers. reporter: but should they be against the law? what the
we begin tonight with religion and free speech and the explosive intersection of the two. the westboro baptist church is known for picketing the funerals of u.s. soldiers and marines in protest over what the church sees as the ills of american society. gays, in particular. today, their free speech case ended up before the supreme court, but we wanted to know more about who they are and what terry moran boarded the westboro van for our series, faith matters. reporter: they re shocking. god showed his wrath to thee reporter: they re cruel and outrageous, and for most americans, simply beyond the pale. thank god for dead soldiers. reporter: should they be against the law? what the members of this church in kansas do at the funerals of fallen soldiers and marines seems to have violated an almost universal sense of basic human decency. and they know it. and they re proud of it. you seem to have crossed a line for just about everyone. you know what, how good that is f
new crazy antics. we go behind the scenes with the leader in extremely painful entertainment. and palin s plan. does a leaked e-mail from her husband suggest she may well run for president? announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is nightline, october 6th, 2010. good evening. we begin tonight with religion and free speech and the explosive intersection of the two. the westboro baptist church is known for picketing the funerals of u.s. soldiers and marines in protest over what the church sees as the ills of american society. gays, in particular. today, their free speech case ended up before the supreme court, but we wanted to know more about who they are and what terry moran boarded the westboro van for our series, faith matters. reporter: they re shocking. god showed his wrath to thee reporter: they re cruel and outrageous, and for most americans, simply beyond the pale. thank