A Baltimore jury has awarded the family of slain Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder some eleven million dollars in a court case against the “ministry” of Fred Phelps. To wit!
After members of Reverend Fred Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church demonstrated at the funeral of Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder his father was justifiably upset. But Albert Snyder didn’t just get mad – he got even:
A grieving father won a nearly $11 million verdict Wednesday against a fundamentalist Kansas church that pickets military funerals in the belief that the war in Iraq is a punishment for the nation’s tolerance of homosexuality.
Albert Snyder of York, Pennsylvania., sued the Westboro Baptist Church for unspecified damages after members demonstrated at the March 2006 funeral of his son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq.
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.
U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett noted the size of the award for compensating damages “far exceeds the net worth of the defendants,” according to financial statements filed with the court.
Well, jump up and slap the mule. That’s the best news I’ve heard in ages. That means that Westboro Baptist will probably go bankrupt and Reverend Phelps and his congregation (which is mostly made up of his extended family) are going to have to ship their little inbred, home-schooled brats off to real schools because they’re all going to have to get real jobs, rather than travel the country intruding on the private grief of American families.
Outside court today, Rev Phelps and his children waved placards with slogans such as “Pray for more dead kids” and “God hates fag enablers”, while passing drivers and pedestrians shouted abuse at them.
Defence lawyer Jonathan Katz urged jurors not to award punitive damages because the $US2.9 million ($A3.11 million) in compensatory damages was already three times the defendants’ net worth.
“It’s enough already to bankrupt them and financially destroy them,” Mr Katz said.
We live in hope, Sparky.
“Pray for more dead kids”?! What kind of heartless monsters are the Phelps family?
Oh! Heh, that’s right. They’re some BROKE motherfuckin’ monsters.
Suck on THAT, Pastor.
Oh, and happy holidays.
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zed
zed
tres
I’ll go get em.
boo
too quick for me, mary!
About damn time too..
Good on Albert Snyder. Phelps is going down!
hey TRex.
Great news there!
punaise @ 6
Luck of the Irish.
I hope Brother Phelps was one of those who was in support of the bankruptcy reform.
marymccurnin @ 10
I didn’t even have time to type zbigniew brZEDinski
Phelps is Exhibit A for bat shit crazy…have you ever seen him interviewed on TV? wow.
punaise @ 12
huh?
Hmmm… Nobody informed us downstairs…
Well, they’ve got their hate to keep them warm in the cold embrace of eternity…Brokeassed snake-handling f*cks…
before i switch computers, here are the rest of the snacks:
candy
cupcakes
ghost treats
cookies
CTuttle @ 15
I did to.
CTuttle @ 15
I did, CT as did Mary McC
marymccurnin @ 14
yeah, really.. huh?
wow, tex, that is an awesome spread ya laid out there for us
thanks
punaise @ 20
You funny.
I hope that when all this is over, Phelps is so broke that he has to suck dicks for change in a bus station bathroom in Topeka.
THAT would be some cosmic justice.
They were on campus a few years ago. Pity the children because they had no fkin clue. How can the authorities let that batshit crazy man hold them captive like that?
utahgirl
CTuttle @ 15
you fall asleep at the wiretap? ;)
Eddie Jefferson – Bennie’s From Heaven
TRex @ 23
Um Ok, but only if he takes his teeth out.
TRex @ 23
cosmic juice.
Suzanne @ 19
It must be on my end in the loading… She’s been getting sluggish in her old age… 8~)
Suzanne, every time I looked for other cakes, some halloween stuff ended up in the search results. I saved the url’s.
do-si-do @ 13
He makes Dr. Gene Scott look like Dr. Marcus Welby.
TRex rocks! Broke MFs LOL
Normally I have 1st amendment concerns and I sometimes quote Voltaire, but I can make an exception in Phelps case.
The news tonight is really wacked…
-14 month old infant left in car 7 hrs by mother [dies]
-17 month old run over by parent
-woman killed by semi making a left hand turn…
-witch puts spell on Sheriff Joe
AND Phelps gets nailed!
TexBetsy @ 30
Mistress of Snack!
Betsy what is Cassie going to do for her birthday tomorrow?
“Zed’s dead, baby”
The tiny raft of Freddy Kruger Phelps wrecked upon the rocks of his own hate.
Mmmmmm. Delicious irony.
That goes for your bugfuck crazy daughters too.
Fred Phelps another Redstate export.
Thanks.
-GSD
utahgirl @ 24
well, i don’t know if this helps but in our neighborhood we have quite a colorful character who is “pro-life” but actually takes great pleasure in displaying billboard sized graphic Halloweenesque photos of aborted fetuses everywhere around town, including in front of schools…
His kids are just as crazy as he is and do his bidding like soldiers. They are part of a crazy family system and it’s all of a piece.
Crazymakers all of them.
Fred Phelps.
Thanks TRex. These people are “not well” in a very scary way.
My dear father had a term for creeps like Phelps: bug-f*cking crazy
still appropriate
Could Phelps be a closeted gay Repug…?
what is really sad is that phelps is going to try to paint himself and his followers as being the victims here of an out of control judiciary.
Loo Hoo. @ 39
That was great.
CTuttle @ 42
From your keyboard to ghod’s ear ;-)
I predict the family will not collect a dime from Phelps… it will be like OJ
LoudounLib @ 45
Could?
What was that about “as ye sow, so shall ye reap?”
Doesn’t the Phelps family include a couple of lawyers who specialize in beating up family opponents in court? I do so hope that recollection is correct.
darkblack @ 31
yeah, ya know, gene scott and robert young are both RIP and weren’t very nice people…
Speaking of Child abuse, Atlas Juggs and her kids are next in line.
http://www.sadlyno.com/archives/7662.html
The idea of a protest against 1 dead soldier and his family over gays in the military is not a productive protest. Who is he targetting? The family, whose role in the entire process and law and decision of gays in the military and tolerance in society is so miniscule?
Can’t Phelps present his protest at the steps of the Pentagon or White house or his governor’s estate or here’s a good one: Why not at a real live military base in front of real live military men and women?
Warning: what you’re about to see is going to make you seriously angry.
Went looking for a Kathy Mattea song on YouTube, and I found this instead.
Holy s**t.
Cancer Cures @ 52
’cause he is a lily livered yellow bellied chicken and military folks would fight back.
katymine @ 35
Her friends have some nice things planned and we’ll have a family dinner with her favorite foods. She’s spending much of the weekend with friends.
marymccurnin @ 44
“he’s irresistable” LOL!
This is pretty awful.
“Blackwater’s New Mercenaries: DC’s Most Powerful Lobbyists” Huffpo
Suzanne @ 54
People like Phelps feed off other people’s anger and indignation. It’s all about the attention. If you are angry at me then I am alive and feel powerful. It’s twisted I know.
gtg pups.
TexBetsy @ 55
Won’t tell a soul…. wish a very happy birthday!
do-si-do @ 50
At least Gene let people touch his monkey.
;>)
g’nite do-si-do
Cancer Cures @ 52
Because they’d get the living tar beaten outta them, if not worse…
burnspbesq @ 53
There are no words…
Katymine, she knows the plan, just not the gifts.
I am trying to imagine any time in history where people have protested the greiving families of the fallen.
Cancer Cures @ 65
It’s a skewed, skewed world.
LoudounLib @ 66
Its a small world after all.
It’s a shame that Phelps couldn’t pass along something more wholesome.
;>)
Suzanne @ 11
*chortle*
Well, that’s all good news, then. Given how awful this family is on so many things, they deserve that judgement. Wonder if any of it will be collected.
Evening, all!
hey pb :-)
I’m sure the family is looking forward to evicting the clan from their property.
(smiling)
Even Cassie’s birthday post is political:
I wonder, is their church title free and clear? Perhaps the Synder family can turn it into low income housing or a soup kitchen for those in need.
I’ve been Phelpsed before – I was playing a series of children’s concerts in Topeka, and we were on our way to the college for our final gig when we were accosted by those “God Hates Fags” signs. I didn’t know what or who they were until a couple of years later.
Suzanne @ 71
Hopefully these people were too f**king stupid to put their assets in bankruptcy-remote entities.
burns, looking at their mo, i would say that was probably a given that they neglected to think about bankruptcy protection.
Must. go. to. bed. Good night all!
burnspbesq @ 75
That’s what I’m kinda curious about too — how well was the legal mechanism for their church put together? The judgement suggests that holes were poked into that, as well. Be interesting to read the court transcripts…
Suzanne @ 73
Gay youth hostel.
LoudounLib @ 77
Night!
Sleep well LL.
nite LL.
marymccurnin @ 79
Schadenfreudelicious.
just as a recent bride i know said god would protect her ovaries (she delivered 9 months after the wedding), i’m sure phelps thought god would protect them from the civil authorities.
phelps thought wrong – he forgot about that whole whatever you do to the least you do to me part.
LoudounLib @ 77
Nite, LL!
Cute:
http://icanhascheezburger.file…..rator1.jpg
I say, is that Lurking Mod? :-) Although truth to tell, our mods seem to work more at approving posts caught in filters…
g’nite LL
Time to go put some birthday wishes on Cassie’s wall, then I have some reading to do.
Gnight, all.
g’nite burns
Nite, Burnsie!
peanutbutter @ 86
Meow…
sleep well burns
Well, so far I’ve doled out about 60 bags…!
The Lurking Mod @ 91
So…on the internet no one knows you’re a cat!
CTuttle @ 93
dime or nickel?
The Lurking Mod @ 91
Lurking Mod, you asked me to let you know when you were being catty.
(ducking)
marymccurnin @ 95
Heh! :-P
marymccurnin @ 95
spew
Suzanne @ 96
clears throat…
Furr-ball incoming!
The Lurking Mod @ 99
A spoonful of cod liver oil will help with that, TLM.
supercat
I’m experimenting with a technology that, when taken to its logical conclusion will teach people how to access their eternal nature simply by playing a video game together.
I look forward to the day when humanity can view this eternal nature from a scientific perspective, free of superstition and the “My God can beat up your God mentality.”
Any priest who fails to lead in the ways of Compassion, Justice and Mercy will quickly find themselves unemployed.
BoingBoing: CIA rendition planes and crashed drug plane share common owner.
Happy Halloween!
Here’s some Phelps legal history. wikipedia
Heading off to bed…. see ya all tomorrow…
Sleep well Katymine. We’ll have cake for you on Friday.
g’nite katymine
me too to bed.
night mary
g’nite mary mcc
mass exodus – folks must be hitting their candy stash
TRex, what a good post!
And HI everyone. :)
hey margot
Suzanne @ 110
Or the crash after the stash’s been hit ;-)
I don’t get any critters at the door, so no candy here ;-)
I shall join them! Aloha Oe!!!
Hi Margot. Good to see you.
Night CT.
g’nite CT
none here either, pb – am trying to ignore the candy corn in the bowl by the door screaming ‘eat me’
Hi Betsy, how are you?
Margot @ 118
Still in pain, but a bit better tonight. And I have an appt with the surgeon in two weeks.
And you?
Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
‘Don’t Tase me, bro’ student breaks silence
from Greg Palast by Greg Palast
Andrew Meyer explains his motive behind event that led to national debate
TODAYSHOW.com
Wed., Oct. 31, 2007
In the media frenzy that has surrounded the Tasering of University of Florida student Andrew Meyer during a September John Kerry forum, one voice has been missing from the conversation — Meyer’s. Now that he has been cleared of criminal charges, Meyer, 21, is speaking out for the first time on TODAYshow.com.
In the following Q&A completed via e-mail, Meyer sets the record straight about whether or not his arrest was planned, his motives for attending the Kerry event and what he has learned from the experience.
Tune in to Thursday’s TODAY for an exclusive, live interview with Meyer.
TODAYshow.com: A lot of people have weighed in on your arrest and the events surrounding it, but we have heard nothing from you. Why have you remained silent?
Meyer: On the advice of my attorney, the inimitable Robert Griscti, I went against my instincts and stayed silent. I’m glad that I did. Not only did I have a criminal case pending, but the time away from the spotlight has allowed me to cool off and gain perspective.
http://www.gregpalast.com/‘don’t-tase-me-bro’-student-breaks-silence/
I’m fine, we had no little ones come to our door tonight, and i miss them so!
My 16-yr-old did go out trick-or-treating with friends.
Time for me to call it a night.
May be late tomorrow. Birthday stuff :)
pain free wishes, tex
nite betsy
Sorry, but this was too good not to pass along…
Roadblock for Telecom Immunity
Senate Judiciary Leaders Resist Leniency for Surveillance
By Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 1, 2007; Page A06
In a blow to the Bush administration, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat and Republican expressed reluctance yesterday to granting blanket immunity to telecommunications carriers sued for assisting the government’s warrantless surveillance program.
Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and the ranking Republican, Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.), had said that before even considering such a proposal, they would need to see the legal documents underpinning the program, which began after Sept. 11, 2001, and were put under court oversight in January.
On Tuesday, the committee was given access to some of the documents. But Leahy said yesterday that he had a “grave concern” about blanket immunity, saying that “it seems to grant . . . amnesty for telecommunications carriers for warrantless surveillance activities.”
The activities seem to be “in violation of the privacy rights of Americans” and of federal domestic surveillance law, he said, noting that he is still “carefully considering” what is in the documents.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..eheadlines
*poof* 8~)
d r i f t g l a s s opines on Phelps:
CTuttle @ 126
So, is the moment the Specter becomes the lion he wants to be portrayed as, or will he wimp-out again?
night betsy, sleep tight!
punaise @ 127
7O7!!
I assume folks here have tangled with http://freerice.com by now?
CT@126 -stop my pounding heart! ;~)
peanutbutter @ 131
new to me – I stopped at 140
katymine @ 46
But I hope the sheriff’s marshals follow them into WalMart when they go to buy poster board and markers, and snatch the money from their evil hands. Sorry, “Reverend” no more hate speech placards for you and your hateful spawn.
Bush today nominates former gov of N.D. Secy of Agriculture. link
Bismarck bloggers earlier questioned whether nominee plagiarized an article published in his name. link 2
this is pretty funny, from Swopa’s place
Geez, I had The Lurking Mod pictured a lot differently.
Margot @ 137
Just masquerade as a cat. My real photo is too gruesome to make public, until now!
TeddySanFran @ 134
707
The Lurking Mod @ 138
having met TLM, I can verify that is him … on a good day
Suzanne @ 140
Looks mighty ummmm…. limber.
ok, time for this
kittehpup to turn into a pumpkin and head off to bedg’nite all
Arianna on Charlie Rose & Valerie Plame coming up.
Rose announced new series of presidential candidates showing a clip with Mike Huckabee who has already been taped.
Am off to bed and watch these heroines with mrbrat and precious pooch Victor Buddha Blue.
Niters all! ;~)
Valerie coming up on Charlie Rose….
Thanks for covering this TRex, this is the best news I’ve read in decades . . . may they all rot in hell, and be homeless in San Francisco, while St. Francis exacts his toll for humanity on them for NOT being humane.
Wish we could put Blackwater and it’s ilk out of biz this way.
Progressives fight on.
It’s either that or live without purpose or without heart. N then, what do you tell yerself, or the children . . .
yo, these assholes came to Athens and I stood with the “Patriot Guard” between them and the family at the funeral. Good for the court!
raven @ 146
good for raven!
selise @ 147
Yea, and I wore my hat from my outfit in Korea and I got interviewed by the local paper and they called me a “Korean War Vet”! I’m old but not THAT old!
Good morning from the BlueState. While it is good to see the pups frolicking happily about something in the news, the first amendment issues that arise here are substantial and subtle, IMO, although IANAL.
Two discussions on Daily Kos.
larry in nyc:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyo…../221753/15
will be overturned on free speec grounds and should.
is terrible because:
There is almost no distance at all to go from the verdict today to an outright ban on protesting the war.
On the other side of the issue,
AndyS in Colorado
http://www.dailykos.com/storyo…../21389/907
raven @ 148
if that’s all they got wrong, then i consider you lucky.
selise @ 150
My friends had fun with it!
BlueStateRedHead @ 149 –
not knowing anything more about the cases than what’s in the diaries (so if there’s more to it, i hope someone will correct me)…
i don’t think it’s subtle at all. bad judgment by the court.
that doesn’t mean there’s nothing we can do about phelps and the idiots he protests with…. my favorite being what raven did.
but legally (not morally, imo) they have every right to their sick protest.
From Juan Cole, an idea whose time has come?
Time to Close the US Embassy
It does occur to me that embassies in hazard zones seem often to run with minimal staff.
Oh! Heh, that’s right. They’re some BROKE motherfuckin’ monsters.
Isn’t the appropriate grammar, “…some BROKE ASS motherfuckin’ monsters” ? Just snarkerding. Missed you TRex! Big Island aloha to you.
Good morning, pups. It’s TOMC and Cohen this morning. TOMC watched the debate the other night. She doesn’t like Hillary. Mr. Cohen says that Afghanistan will pose continuing problems for the next president. (Really? You think???) If anyone can tell me why they’re in the Times…
http://mgpaquin.wordpress.com/
The coffee and tea are ready, and the biscuits are out of the oven. I’m just going to sit quietly and bask in the glow of Phelps’ gang’s impending bankruptcy. Ahhh, life is good!
1,644 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND..
Citizen Raven and the Firepup Freedpm Fighters:
Bless your pure heart, brother Raven, you are one tagether mofo…even I woulda put on a uniform again ta get in the ugly faces of those mental paraplegics. I betcha put the fear of a REAL God in those sorry ass, dumb country fuks.
KEEP THE FAITH AND DO IT TO THEM BEFORE THEY DO IT TO US AGAIN!!
Good morning!
morning egr!
Good Morning everyone.
Easy on the dancing TRex or you will throw your back out again.
The Phelps “church” will no doubt appeal and appeal again until the SCOTUS loonies give the green light to “protected” hate speech. I say send the bastards to Iraq to see how they really like IEDs.
Good Morning!
what follows is from Juan Cole:
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Time to Close the US Embassy
I don’t try to start an internet campaign very often, because the blogosphere has its own priorities and logic that are democratic and should not be forced. But here is a plea for everyone in the blogging world to help force congress to save our diplomats.
Bush is trying to Shanghai several hundred foreign service officers and force them to go to Iraq. They are protesting.
Now is that time for all Americans to stand up for the diplomats who serve this country ably and courageously throughout the world, for decades on end. Foreign service officers risk disease and death, and many of them see their marriages destroyed when spouses decline to follow them to a series of remote places. They are the ones who represent America abroad, who know languages and cultures and do their best to convince the world that we’re basically a good people… more>>
Good morning Pups! I love the fact that Phelps and his “church” has finally been punished. Hitting these kinds of “Christian” churches in the pocket is a good start and I hope more military families stand up to this kind of hate-mongering when it happens!
dear friends who are glad about the court verdict against phelps and his gang of crazies….
aren’t the courts supposed to punish illegal acts (as opposed to unethical or immoral acts)?
what illegal actions are they being punished for?
thank you.
selise @ 163
They are endangering us by highlighting the fact that there are funerals of dead soldiers. It is all about terrists and homeland security and state secrecy and all that.
“jump up and slap the mule”
My, but you do have a way with words! This was good reading… What goes around comes around.
-MS
I’m a little ambivalent about this decision myself. Could hurt us (badly) in the future.
NorskeFlamethrower @ 156
The most amazing thing was how we were determined to keep our cool. You know that was not really what we wanted to do.
what illegal actions are they being punished for?
thank you.
you are serious aren’t you?
selise @ 163:
I understand your concerns. But does the first amendment cover hate speech at a funderal? No matter what, I can’t help being happy about this decision. Call me crazy…
-MS
TexBetsy @ 72
just in case you missed this. Good Morning all and thanks for the biscuits Marion.
Waxman wants Abramoff files from Bush. What happened to the DOJ investigating Congress on this? It’s been three years. How long does it take to get a case like this together? There were supposed to be 60 Congressmen under investigation. By my count, only 2 have gone down.
George Simian @ 171
I hope they delay convicting anyone in the Abramoff scandal until after the next inauguration so George W. can’t be pardoning them all.
Raven, thank you for standing up for the families.
I have to believe that harassing families at a funeral constitutes a crime. It would be a waste of time to put me on that jury, because I thought Phelps was guilty from the get go.
Elliott @ 172
At this rate, even if they bring up charges today, it’ll be way after 2008 before they are brought up in court.
raven @ 168
yes.
Since I contributed to raining on the parade of rejoicement about the reining (as in whoa, pulling on the reins) in of the Phelps, let me give us a reason to consider another possible good outcome.
Maryland. Home to the soldier, home to the Frosts.
I ask of Selise or any of our first amendment mavens willing to opine:
If the pain and suffering to the mourning family of a dead soldier at his funeral had sufficient merit, should not impugning a living child in his home do as well?
The Raven standing guard solution raises question 2.
How do they a. find these funerals. and b. get the resources and organization to go from Topeka to Georgia and Maryland etc. in time to protest? One would need to know in order to form these guards.
Snarky question and final one: is there another flank to attach the Phelps on that leaves the first amendement out of it.
They are accompanied by their children. The ones who look young in pix are surely being home schooled. Can state action being taken on the grounds that children’s inadequate homeschooling…they seem to be protesting rather than learning…perhaps in the words of the yadeyadayada immortal Bard, they protest too much/
You can se that hope can spring eternal in a BlueState that has seen one curse reversed.
New thread from Scarecrow:
Bush Waterboards Graham, Who Confesses He Feels Better About Mukasey
egregious @ 173
harassment is a crime. were they guilt of that (in the legal sense, not the moral sense)?
with all due respect (and i hope you know i really mean that)… is it possible that you are confusing the idea of a “crime” as something that is illegal and the idea of a “crime” as something that offends your idea of what is right and wrong?
Will waterboarding sink Mukasey?
Scarecrow up.
Michael in Park Slope @ 169
and when i am bankrupt and put out onto the street for protesting at the local recruiting office, will that make you happy too?
DON’T START CELEBRATING TOO EARLY !
THE PHELPS FAMILY HAS TONS OF LAWYERS IN THAT DISGUSTING “FAMILY”.
THEY CAN TIE UP THIS CASE FOR YEARS.
I’M GLAD SOME ONE STOOD UP TO THEM AND WON!
BlueStateRedHead @ 176 –
i’m not sure what the best answer is (although i am a big, big fan of what raven and his friends did).
and i do know that there can be lots of disagreement among intelligent people of good will as to what the rules (laws) ought to be.
but where i draw the line as that whatever the rules (laws) are, we MUST apply them without favor…. everyone gets held to the same rules (laws), regardless if we find their actions morally abhorent or not.
are first test of the rightness of a prosecution out to be are we comfortable having the same standard (stripped of political ideology) applied to us. in this case – i do not. (based on what i’ve read – which may have left out important facts, which is why i asked for correction)
to do less than that is to follow the path of selective prosecution.
selise @ 163
Selise,
I think it was a citizen’s civil suit for personal damages, not a state action. Invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of mental distress..
DIANE @ 182
Many of the family are lawyers.
Raven@181, diane@182.
Thanks for hanging in there. Diane answers my question 2. they are not really a family but an organization.
so if there is a crime, and if the crime is federal, since interstate, do we have basis for a RICO?
As I explained previously, here in the BlueState we suffer from chronic hoping.
Now up to waterboarding.
Also, remember that the Phelps scumbags have made money when they get their fucking rights violated, it’s part of their scam.
SunnyNobility @ 184
were they not protesting on public land? if so, how is that an invasion of privacy?
what is the legal standard of “intentional infliction of mental distress”? what actions am i prohibited from while protesting inorder not to cross the legal line where i could be held liable?
i’m really just trying to understand – because at first blush this seems all wrong to me. hoping to find another way to understand so it can make sense. but right now it just doesn’t.
selise @ 188
So, instead of going over and kicking the living dog shit out of these motherfuckers the family took it to court, through the proper channels.
raven @ 189
i don’t object to the family’s action. no way should they have to endure that.
i think i object to the court’s decision.
selise @ 190
Nah, you don’t really.
raven @ 191
well, i do confess that my sense of karmic justice is pleased.
just not my sense of legal justice.
I wish I would have found out about this particular protest before it happened since it was in my old stomping grounds in Westminster.
This guy and his band of hateful societial garbage have a right to be heard however repugnant their message is. But their right to speak does not trump the right of another person to express themselves through grieving. The can just as easily apply for a permit and do their protest well out of sight of the funeral. Their protests as they stand are blatantly abusing another person’s rights and sorry Freddy but in this country everyone’s rights are supposed to be treated equally. I know you hate the United States and all but if you don’t like it you can always move to Saudi Arabia or something.
I think the ruling is a good thing. I do worry about the stifling of free speech. People should be able to speak their minds. But I should also be able to ignore their message if I should choose. I can’t do that if I’m at a funeral for my son and they’re protesting it. My choices would be to leave the funeral and give up the right to mourn my son or put up with their garbage. Either way I am giving up my own rights to the illusory primacy of someone else’s.
Essentially I’m trapped and being held hostage as an unwilling audience for this person and I simply cannot support that.
Much as I hate “Rev.” Phelps and his wacko cult, as an ACLU-Glenn Greenwald style civil libertarian I’m troubled by the verdict. Some people are being ordered to pay $11 million for engaging in speech: hateful speech, but speech just the same.
If this precedent holds, wouldn’t it also be possible to fine someone $11 million for protesting at the funeral of an officer who engaged in war crimes, with graphic evidence of what he did?
It’s a mistake to cheer this kind of verdict, because if it stands it will eventually be used against us.
I’m with Joe. I grew up with this church. I was in the same grade, same class with Charles Hockenbarger, one of the favorite sons of the church. I actually got to watch his brain be washed and rung out. Sad stuff.
These people are sick and reprehensible. But their speech needs to be covered. That is what freedom is all about.
Free speech is one place where the Overton Window is a good thing. When we see that Window narrowing, we should be concerned.
BTW- They are totally inbred. You can’t tell the ladies apart. Super Creepy. I know, I was taught Spanish by one of them in 4th grade.
Thank you for coming to the Westboro Baptist Church. Please turn to page 381 in your hymnal and sing with me: