Post by: Phyphor on October 31, 2007, 12:13:37 PM
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/loc...l_tab01_layout
Father of slain Marine wins case against funeral protesters
Pa. man awarded $2.9 million in compensatory damages
By Matthew Dolan | Sun reporter
Albert Snyder of York, Pa., the father of a Westminster Marine who was killed in Iraq, today won his case against members of Topeka, Kan.-based Westboro Baptist Church who protested at his son's funeral last year.
The jury of five women and four men awarded Snyder $2.9 million in compensatory damages. The amount of punitive damages to be awarded has not yet been decided. The jury deliberated for about two hours yesterday and much of today.
Snyder was the first in the nation to attempt to hold members of Westboro Baptist Church legally liable for their shock protests at military funerals after the church protested the military's inclusion of gays at the funeral of Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder, a 2003 Westminster High School graduate who died March 3, 2006, in a vehicle accident in Anbar province.
In June 2006, Snyder sued the tight-knit fundamentalist Christian church and three of its members individually. The father argued that Westboro's demonstrations exacerbated his pain and suffering in March 2006 while he mourned the death of his only son.
Specifically, he charged that they violated his privacy, intentionally inflicted emotional harm and engaged in a conspiracy to carry out their activities. The jury decided in Snyder's favor on every count.
The church and its members maintained that they did nothing wrong. They based their legal defense on the First Amendment, arguing that their protests were constitutionally protected. Their attorneys told jurors yesterday that Westboro members were expressing closely held religious beliefs about an immoral society, including the military, that has endorsed homosexuality.
Jonathan Katz, the attorney for the church and one of its founders, said that members followed state law during their protest in Westminster because they stood on public property about 1,000 feet from the funeral.
The church's controversial protests have prompted at least 22 states to enact or propose laws to limit the rights of protesters at funerals. Only months after Matthew Snyder's death, Maryland passed a law prohibiting people from picketing within 100 feet of a funeral, memorial, burial or procession.
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BWAHAHA! Pwn3d!
Post by: charby on October 31, 2007, 12:18:11 PM
-C
Post by: Phyphor on October 31, 2007, 12:35:50 PM
But we'll have to wait and see, in the mean time, Phelps can GFH....
Post by: Perd Hapley on October 31, 2007, 12:37:41 PM
Post by: Racehorse on October 31, 2007, 12:39:28 PM
Post by: Moondoggie on October 31, 2007, 12:43:01 PM
As far as the Westboro Criminal Conspiritors goes...it sends a message that although you do have a right to free speech, you don't have a right to publicly torment strangers during a time of grief just to call attention to your point of view.
There are boundries of decency, and they can still be enforced.
The Westboro posse's stock in trade is suing anybody that they percieve might have violated their rights into submission. They have collected millions in settlements. The Phelp's clan is populated by 5 or 6 lawyers...Patriarch Fred Phelps was disbarred in KS and in the Federal Court System. He cut a deal to allow his children to retain their law licenses so that he could continue to use the courts to his financial advantage. Their tactics are to stage outrageous "protests" in order to provoke a response so that they can sue for violation of their rights. They are nothing but scumbag lawyers scamming the system, using religion as their shill.
Look them up on the web...there is no "Church", only a fenced compound in Topeka populated by about 20 of Phelps family members. They use the church as a dodge to avoid taxes and to intimidate their opponents. Our system of laws and governance was never intended for the likes of Phelps to use as he has.
What goes around.....
Post by: Tallpine on October 31, 2007, 01:39:40 PM
Quote
They based their legal defense on the First Amendment, arguing that their protests were constitutionally protected.
Being "constitutionally protected" doesn't make you immune to civil lawsuits.
Post by: Phyphor on October 31, 2007, 02:13:41 PM
Kinda surprises me the Phelps clan hasn't been shot up.
Post by: RadioFreeSeaLab on October 31, 2007, 02:39:23 PM
Quote
They based their legal defense on the First Amendment, arguing that their protests were constitutionally protected.
Being "constitutionally protected" doesn't make you immune to civil lawsuits.
Quite so. The government can't limit what they say, but private citizens are, and should be, free to sue in civil court, if they feel the need.
Post by: Perd Hapley on October 31, 2007, 02:54:47 PM
Quote
They based their legal defense on the First Amendment, arguing that their protests were constitutionally protected.
Being "constitutionally protected" doesn't make you immune to civil lawsuits.
Quite so. The government can't limit what they say, but private citizens are, and should be, free to sue in civil court, if they feel the need.
The govt. can't limit what they can say, but it sure ought to limit where and when they can say it.
Post by: RadioFreeSeaLab on October 31, 2007, 02:55:40 PM
Post by: Bigjake on October 31, 2007, 03:18:57 PM
Quote
I'm glad they finally got some of what they deserve.
what Fred Phelps deserves is beaten within an inch of his life by an angry mob of grieving family members and PGR folks. Can't show your ass at better men and women's funerals in a vegetative state, drooling on oneself.
Post by: 280plus on October 31, 2007, 03:42:21 PM
Post by: mtnbkr on October 31, 2007, 05:02:19 PM
...or to bullets.
Kinda surprises me the Phelps clan hasn't been shot up.
Kinda surprises me the Phelps clan hasn't been shot up.
Lots of people talk a good game...
Chris
Post by: Firethorn on October 31, 2007, 05:27:39 PM
...or to bullets.
Kinda surprises me the Phelps clan hasn't been shot up.
Kinda surprises me the Phelps clan hasn't been shot up.
Lots of people talk a good game...
Chris
I know. My thought is that Phelps isn't worth a bullet.
Quote
including the military, that has endorsed homosexuality.
Hard to say we endorse it, seeing as how it's still considered a court marshal offense to engage in homosexual activities or even say you're gay while you're in the military. What do they want? Stoning?
I personally disagree with the policy, but then, I'm a tolerant person.
Post by: Phyphor on October 31, 2007, 05:38:33 PM
...or to bullets.
Kinda surprises me the Phelps clan hasn't been shot up.
Kinda surprises me the Phelps clan hasn't been shot up.
Lots of people talk a good game...
Chris
Well, hell, given the number of bereaved families they've trolled.... Honestly, I wonder why someone hasn't just *SNAPPED* and done something.
Guess Phelps ain't rolled snakeeyes, yet.
Post by: Phyphor on October 31, 2007, 05:40:43 PM
...or to bullets.
Kinda surprises me the Phelps clan hasn't been shot up.
Kinda surprises me the Phelps clan hasn't been shot up.
Lots of people talk a good game...
Chris
I know. My thought is that Phelps isn't worth a bullet.
Probably not. Anyone got a rope?
Post by: K Frame on October 31, 2007, 05:44:01 PM
Post by: MechAg94 on October 31, 2007, 05:51:30 PM
You just know that a handful of lawyers will be on hand to "support" the family the next time those people show up to protest.
Post by: Firethorn on October 31, 2007, 06:21:33 PM
You just know that a handful of lawyers will be on hand to "support" the family the next time those people show up to protest.
Might not be good money(I'm sure they'll suddenly appear destitute when the time comes to collect this settlement), but sure is good publicity.Post by: MechAg94 on October 31, 2007, 06:24:42 PM
If they claim no money and then continue to travel around protesting, that might make the judge angry. IMO, it is similar to the Goldman's now owning the rights to OJ's new book.
Post by: wmenorr67 on October 31, 2007, 06:35:09 PM
Post by: Antibubba on October 31, 2007, 08:41:36 PM
Post by: charby on October 31, 2007, 08:42:27 PM
Hmmm. Wonder if Phelps will now "render unto Caesar".
Don't give that jackass anymore ammunition that he needs. He makes all Christians look bad.
Post by: Len Budney on November 01, 2007, 01:15:41 AM
I'd rather keep the government out of it. Private properties owners can and should deny them access. Citizens groups, like those bikers, should intervene.
I agree, but government's already in it: the "public" roads guarantee that Phelps can get within earshot of whoever he's harassing, even if all the private property owners agree to deny him access. So your suggestion requires road privatization to really work.
As for the verdict, I'm delighted. Phelps is playing some kind of game--I don't know what. Some people suggest that he's actually a liberal, sacrificing his reputation to make conservatives look bad. Others, who sound more plausible to me, think he's looking for people to attack him so he can sue. If so, then he's hoist on his own petard now, and I think it's great.
--Len.
Post by: Perd Hapley on November 01, 2007, 02:00:43 AM
Some people suggest that he's actually a liberal, sacrificing his reputation to make conservatives look bad.
That really seemed plausible a few years ago. Then he started saying "God hates America," and "Thank God for dead soldiers." If he was trying to make fundies look bad, he wouldn't break the stereotype like that.
Post by: mike101 on November 01, 2007, 05:20:52 AM
The WBC got their brains sued out. About time.
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/funeral-protests-cost-church-11-million/20071031193009990001