October 31, 2007

There Is A God, And He Doesn't Like Fred Phelps

A Baltimore jury awarded the family of a slain Marine almost $3 million in damages from the Westboro Baptist Church for its homophobic protest at his funeral. The Reverend Fred Phelps lost his case before the federal court in every aspect, and now must pay a potentially crippling judgment -- and this may just be the beginning (via Michelle Malkin):

Albert Snyder of York, Pa., the father of a Westminster Marine who was killed in Iraq, today won his case in a Baltimore federal court 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. ....

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 Phelps clan and their morally stunted followers have always presented a difficult free-speech dilemma. On one hand, sympathy belongs -- rightly -- with the families of the fallen defenders of our nation and their families. Loud protests outside their funerals that interfere with the grieving process are positively ghoulish, even without the strident homophobic rants that are the hallmark of Phelps and his gang of idiots. People who engage in such protests have no human compassion whatsoever and represent the most egregious of political cheap-shot artists.

However, as Minnesota's Becky Lourey insisted last year, Phelps has the right to engage in political speech in public venues. Lourey, who lost a son in Iraq in 2005 and had supported Cindy Sheehan in her summer protest in the same year, considers Phelps as detestable as anyone else -- but she voted against a law that made funeral protests illegal. In fact, she cast the only vote against the law, telling the state Senate that it went against the Constitution for which her son sacrificed his life.

Of course, that doesn't apply to tort law. Free speech doesn't absolve people of responsibility for the damage they do, and most reasonable people would consider what Westboro's minstrels of misery do very painful and completely inappropriate. Perhaps this might convince a few other victims to follow suit, pun intended, and ensure that Phelps' moral bankruptcy gets matched by his financial bankruptcy.

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/tabhartas.cgi/15717

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference There Is A God, And He Doesn't Like Fred Phelps:

» Albert Snyder, Father of Slain Marine, Wins Lawsuit Against Westboro Baptist Church from Stop The ACLU
Prelude: “They turned this funeral into a media circus and they wanted to hurt my family,” Snyder testified. “They wanted their message heard and they didn’t care who they stepped over. My son should have been buried with dignit... [Read More]

» Jury Rules Against Phelps Cult from J's Cafe Nette
A few days ago I wrote about a dead Marine’s father who had taken the Westboro Baptist Church gang led by Fred Phelps to court for disrupting his son’s funeral. It is my pleasure to report the verdict is in and it is not in favor of the Phe... [Read More]

» Am I The Only One Troubled? from Rhymes With Right
I may be about to make myself the most unpopular guy in the blogosphere with this post. I may even be accused of defending the indefensible. But I'm taken aback by the untoward celebration of a decision that imperils the... [Read More]

» Hateful Fred Phelps and his “church” lose big (THUR AM UPDATE) from Sister Toldjah
Really big. Good. Thur AM Update: Just to clarify, of course I’m all for 1st Amendment rights - but I like seeing Fred Phelps squirm a bit. Captain Ed has a good post up about this here. Prior: Sickening anti-gay protests at GI funerals ... [Read More]

» Funeral Protestors Get Their Day In Court And Lose from Liberty Pundit
They lost to the tune of $11 million: A Baltimore federal jury awarded nearly $11 million Wedn… Popularity: unranked [?]... [Read More]

» Fred Phelps And Family Go Down HARD — Jury Awards $11M To Father Of Slain Marine from The Gun Toting Liberal™
My first reaction to the breaking news of the jury’s award against the disgusting Westboro Baptist crew who goes around to the funerals of our fallen troops, protesting during the personal, private, heartbroken moment when the families and friend... [Read More]

» Phelps and Westboro Baptist ordered to pay millions to slain Marine’s Father: Suppression of free speech or just desserts from Leaning Straight Up
It is a serious question and one I am admittedly bothered by.  Let me explain, but first I want to make it clear that I abhor Phelps and his protests at Soldiers funerals, and his entire anti gay campaign. To be double clear, Phelps and his ch... [Read More]

Comments