Westboro baptist loses suit

[Phyphor]

 Westboro Baptist Church LOSES LAWSUIT, owes $2.9 million
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!

[charby]

I'm thinking that Pandora's box might have been opened a little more with this latest suit. Good for the father who won the suit, but at what cost will this lead to other lawsuits?

-C

[Phyphor]

Yea, I do kinda wonder about unintended consequences here...

But we'll have to wait and see, in the mean time, Phelps can GFH....

[Perd Hapley]

It's sad that he felt the need to sue.  Funeral protests should be shut down and the participants arrested.  Duh. 

[Racehorse]

I'm not a lawyer, but I think this is already covered by the statutes on intentional infliction of emotional distress. I think the actions of the Westboro morons are definitely aimed at inflicting emotional distress. I'm glad they finally got some of what they deserve.

[Moondoggie]

Good for Mr. Snyder.

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.....

[Tallpine]

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. 

[Phyphor]

...or to bullets.

Kinda surprises me the Phelps clan hasn't been shot up.

[RadioFreeSeaLab]

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.

[Perd Hapley]

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. 

[RadioFreeSeaLab]

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. 

[Bigjake]

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.

[280plus]

Good, the bastards. 

[mtnbkr]

...or to bullets.
Kinda surprises me the Phelps clan hasn't been shot up.

Lots of people talk a good game...

Chris

[Firethorn]

...or to bullets.
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.

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.

[Phyphor]

...or to bullets.
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.

[Phyphor]

...or to bullets.
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?

[K Frame]

Just because you have the right to say something doesn't mean that you have the right to try to make other people listen to you.

[MechAg94]

At this point, I think someone could sue them from every place they have protested and they could lose every lawsuit.  I think jurors would be pretty disgusted by their behavior.  At least this might open up the idea to others and give these people something to consider.

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. 

[Firethorn]

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.

[MechAg94]

How this case is disposed of will determine that.  If they have actually made a lot in the past on lawsuits, I am sure the lawyers will push to open up their finances.  If they pay up, it does encourage others. 

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. 

[wmenorr67]

The judge is on record stating that according to the financials turned in that the "church" and the members are not worth more than a million.

[Antibubba]

Hmmm.  Wonder if Phelps will now "render unto Caesar".

[charby]

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.

[Len Budney]

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.