Father of Marine whose funeral was picketed by the Phelps crowd wins $11 MILLION in suit -- GOOD FOR

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,307058,00.html or

http://tinyurl.com/24hho9

Jury Awards Father Nearly $11 Million in Funeral Protesters Case

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

BALTIMORE < The father of a fallen Marine was awarded nearly

$11 million Wednesday in damages by a jury that found leaders

of a fundamentalist church had invaded the family's privacy and

inflicted emotional distress when they picketed the Marine's

funeral.

The jury first awarded $2.9 million in compensatory damages. It

returned later in the afternoon with its decision to award $6

million in punitive damages for invasion of privacy and $2

million for causing emotional distress to the Marine's father,

Albert Snyder of York, Pa.

Snyder sued the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church for

unspecified monetary damages after members staged a

demonstration at the March 2006 funeral of his son, Lance Cpl.

Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq.

The defense said it planned to appeal and one of the church's

leaders, Shirley Phelps-Roper, said the members would continue

their pickets of military funerals.

Church members believe that U.S. deaths in the war in Iraq are

punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.

Before the jury began deliberating the size of punitive

damages, U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett noted the size of

the compensatory award "far exceeds the net worth of the

defendants," according to financial statements filed with the

court.

Snyder sobbed when he heard the first verdict, while members of

the church greeted the news with tightlipped smiles.

Church members routinely picket funerals of military personnel

killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, carrying signs such as "Thank

God for dead soldiers" and "God hates fags."

A number of states have passed laws regarding funeral protests,

and Congress has passed a law prohibiting such protests at

federal cemeteries, but the Maryland lawsuit is believed to be

the first filed by the family of a fallen serviceman.

Snyder's suit named the church, its founder, the Rev. Fred

Phelps, and his two daughters, Shirley Phelps-Roper and Rebecca

Phelps-Davis, 46. Snyder claimed the protests intruded upon

what should have been a private ceremony and sullied his memory

of the event.

Attorneys for the church said in closing arguments Tuesday that

the burial was a public event and that even abhorrent points of

view are protected by the First Amendment, which guarantees

freedom of speech and religion.

In his closing arguments during the punitive damages phase,

plaintiff attorney Craig Trebilcock described church members as

bullies who "seek out those among us who are at the weakest

point in our lives."

"That's why they've gotten away with it until this point," the

attorney said, adding that grieving families were too weak to

fight back "until this man."

Defense lawyer Jonathan Katz reminded jurors that punitive

damages are designed to deter future conduct, but not bankrupt

or financially destroy.

It was unclear if the plaintiffs will be able to collect the

damages awarded.

The defense attorney said the assets of the church and the

three defendants are less than a million dollars and the

compensatory award is about three times the defendants' net

worth, mainly in homes, cars and retirement accounts.

In his rebuttal, Trebilcock said it was up to jurors to decide

the truthfulness of the financial documents, noting the

documents show Rebecca Phelps-Davis has $306 in the bank.

Trebilcock noted Phelps-Davis is a practicing attorney and

pointed to testimony by the defendants showing how much they

traveled to spread their message.

"Rebecca Phelps has $306? She must be using Priceline.com. It

doesn't make any sense."

The attorney urged jurors to determine an amount "that says

don't do this in Maryland again. Do not bring your circus of

hate to Maryland again."

The church has about 75 members.

Earlier, church members staged a demonstration outside the

federal courthouse, which is located on a busy thoroughfare a

few blocks west of Baltimore's Inner Harbor, while passing

motorists honked and shouted insults.

Church founder Fred Phelps held a sign reading "God is your

enemy," while his daughter Shirley Phelps-Roper stood on an

American flag while carrying a sign that read "God hates fag

enablers." Members of the group sang "God Hates America,"' to

the tune of "God Bless America."

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Hard to imagine the supreme court would allow this ruling to stand,

since the constitution is so clear about free speech.

I suspect we'll end up with rules similar to those protecting abortion

clinics, where protesters are banned from a certain radius. If they

encroach on that, fine, arrest them for trespassing or disturbing the

peace or whatever it is. But $11,000,000? Absurd.

On Oct 31, 7:07 pm, timeOday <timeOday-UNS...@theknack.net> wrote:

> Hard to imagine the supreme court would allow this ruling to stand,

> since the constitution is so clear about free speech.

Free speech does not extend into someone's private funeral service.

Sorry, but it just does not.

BLP

Baldin Lee Pramer wrote:

> On Oct 31, 7:07 pm, timeOday <timeOday-UNS...@theknack.net> wrote:

>> Hard to imagine the supreme court would allow this ruling to stand,

>> since the constitution is so clear about free speech.

>

> Free speech does not extend into someone's private funeral service.

> Sorry, but it just does not.

>

> BLP

>

I guess you didn't read the rest of my short posting.

"timeOday" <timeOday-UNSPAM@theknack.net> wrote in message

news:xM-dnSHMq-p4u7TanZ2dnUVZ_g2dnZ2d@comcast.com...

> Hard to imagine the supreme court would allow this ruling to stand,

> since the constitution is so clear about free speech.

>

> I suspect we'll end up with rules similar to those protecting abortion

> clinics, where protesters are banned from a certain radius. If they

> encroach on that, fine, arrest them for trespassing or disturbing the

> peace or whatever it is. But $11,000,000? Absurd.

I would hope that it would stand, but for a different reason. I strongly

support the right of the people to protest but there also needs to be a bit

of reason and respect attached to it. And when anybody can walk into a

county clerks office with 70 or 80 bucks and file as a 503C or a Church and

then claim exemption because they are a charity or a church that's taking it

just a little to far. I say shut this outfit down, bankrupt them and teach

them to do their deeds in a legitimate manner.

And, I'd suggest a review of what "freedom of speech" really means. It's

directed toward a government, not some poor fellow that got killed in a war.

--

Dissent is a luxury afforded those who are

protected by much better men and women.

http://www.reason.com/

JC

On Oct 31, 8:37 pm, timeOday <timeOday-UNS...@theknack.net> wrote:

> Baldin Lee Pramer wrote:

> > On Oct 31, 7:07 pm, timeOday <timeOday-UNS...@theknack.net> wrote:

> >> Hard to imagine the supreme court would allow this ruling to stand,

> >> since the constitution is so clear about free speech.

>

> > Free speech does not extend into someone's private funeral service.

> > Sorry, but it just does not.

>

> > BLP

>

> I guess you didn't read the rest of my short posting.

Do you think we need a new law to keep protesters out of other

people's funerals and weddings? I don't believe free speech currently

extends to disrupting a wedding or a funeral. If I am right, why

should we get a new law keeping them a certain distance away?

BLP