Protest At Marine's Funeral Costs Church

Jury Awards Marine's Father Nearly $11M In Damages After Finding Fundamentalist Church Guilty

(AP)  A grieving father won a nearly $11 million verdict Wednesday against a fundamentalist Kansas church that pickets military funerals out of a belief that the war in Iraq is a punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.

Albert Snyder of York, Pa., 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 federal jury first awarded $2.9 million in compensatory damages. It returned in the afternoon with its decision to award $6 million in punitive damages for invasion of privacy and $2 million for causing emotional distress.

Snyder's attorney, Craig Trebilcock, had 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 defense said it planned to appeal, and one of the church's leaders, Shirley Phelps-Roper, said the members would continue to picket military funerals.

"Absolutely; don't you understand this was an act in futility?" Phelps-Roper said.

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."

Snyder claimed the protests intruded upon what should have been a private ceremony and sullied his memory of the event.

The church members testified they are following their religious beliefs by spreading the message that soldiers are dying because the nation is too tolerant of homosexuality.

Their attorneys maintained 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.

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.

The church and three of its leaders — Fred Phelps and his two daughters, Phelps-Roper and Rebekah Phelps-Davis, 46 — were found liable for invasion of privacy and intent to inflict emotional distress.

The group is confident the award will be overturned on appeal, Phelps said

"Oh, it will take about five minutes to get that thing reversed," he said.

Earlier, church members staged a demonstration outside the federal courthouse. Phelps held a sign reading "God is your enemy," while Phelps-Roper stood on an American flag and carried a sign that read "God hates fag enablers." Members of the group sang "God Hates America" to the tune of "God Bless America."

Snyder sobbed when he heard the verdict, while members of the church greeted the news with tightlipped smiles.

It was unclear whether the plaintiffs would be able to collect the damages awarded.

Before the jury began deliberating the size of punitive damages, U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett noted that the size of the compensatory award "far exceeds the net worth of the defendants," according to financial statements filed with the court.

Defense lawyer Jonathan Katz said the church has about 75 members and is funded by tithing.

The defense attorney said that the assets of the church and the three defendants are less than a million dollars and that the compensatory award is about three times the defendants' net worth, mainly in homes, cars and retirement accounts.

One of Snyder's attorneys, Sean Summers, said he would tirelessly seek payment of the award.

"We will chase them forever if it takes that long," Summers said.

[rover6x01]

These heathens worsened the grief of the family, plain & simple. Freedom was paid for by soldiers. We owe all soldiers KIA or alive. Veterans Day is Nov 11th, let me take this opportunity to THANK EVERY VETERAN & SOLDIER, THANK YOU for the freedom to express my opinion.

[billyjoebobb]

lol...whatever...it''ll be overturned. I''m actually for the churches rights and I''m not part of their relegion. I''m getting sick of Soldiers being glorified in the public eye. Go make it a real ''private'' event where my tax dollars will not subsidise the people who fight in war. It''s all fine and well if they put their son on the public news channel as a ''hero'' but when people say what you don''t wanna hear, they sue??

[grammawhamma]

I saw this sick cult on 20/20 tonight. They are insane. It made me teary eyed to see those little kids reciting the hatred they were taught. CPS takes kids away from families for alot less then this. This is child abuse...especially if one of the kids gets caught in a crossfire when their demonstrations turns ugly!! Where is CPS?? At least try to save the kids.

[michaelt302]

Phelps is a madman. As nutty as a fruitcake. And, his kids and grandkids all have the same mentally defective genes. You have to realize this isn''t so much a church as a large extended family of crazy white trash. All these yokels are either related by blood or were brain-dead enough to marry into this family of idiots. If you haven''t heard Phelps talk(TV, radio interviews) you haven''t yet heard the perfect blend of hatred plus insanity. It''s really incredible one of the grieving parents hasn''t yet taken a shot at one of these scum, and it''s just a matter of time before someone does.

[oldprophet]

Ron Paul represents a different Republican Party from the one that Iraq, deficits and corruption have soured the country on. It''s ironic that other GOP candidates are scared to death of his message, BECAUSE his is more conservative than theirs. Being anti-war IS CONSERVATIVE. Another key difference between his message and the others is that he is a strong defender of The Constitution, which protects our civil liberties. The other Presidential candidates, who are mostly NWO Oligarchs, want to erase your liberties. They''ve tried hard to exlude Paul from the spotlight, along with sold-out, mainstream media. In late June, despite a life of antitax agitation and pious churchgoing, he was excluded from a Republican forum sponsored by Iowa anti-tax and Christian groups. Ron Paul does not represent your Father''s style of Republicanism, folks. He represents your Founding Father''s style. He stands for a certain idea of the Constitution; the idea that much of the power asserted by modern presidents has been usurped from Congress, and that much of the power asserted by Congress has been usurped from the States. Though Dr. Paul acknowledges flaws in both The Constitution (it included slavery) and its Bill of Rights (it doesn%u2019t go far enough), he still thinks a comprehensive array of positions can be drawn therefrom: against gun control; for the sovereignty of States; and against foreign-policy adventures. His message draws on the noblest traditions of American decency and patriotism.

[michellem99-2009]

This is the reason I don''t attend church..The bloody hate..What makes yer think Dr what his name is any better..He is a Texas person..They all talk..Their platform is meaning less..They use people to get what want..Once he/she gets the office,them promises are gone..That chruch is a business..The MONEY means more to them than God All Mighty..Jesus kicked the money changers out..

[oldprophet]

You get the sense that our country is desperate for someone to show us the way. Not the old way. Not the same way, but a NEW WAY. Think about this for a minute. What if we pulled all of our troops out of South Korea? They''ve been there for 50+ years. What if we quit worrying about Iran, but instead, realized that its having a nuclear weapon will not mean the end of the world? What if we pulled all of our troops out of the Middle-East, and brought them all home? What if we realistically addressed the National Debt, and paid attention to REALLY DOING SOMETHING about stopping illegal immigration? These are the ideas of Republican Presidential candidate, Dr. Ron Paul. He''s a ten term Congressman and a physician who has delivered over 4,000 babies. He''s an intellectual who''s published four books, three of which are devoted entirely to sound economics. He was raised on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania as a pious Lutheran, but now he attends a Baptist church. Paul is given to mulling things over morally. Whenever he recollects the helicopter pilots he gave physicals to as an Air Force Flight Surgeon during the Vietnam War, a war which he now says was "totally unnecessary and illegal," he laments, "They were gung-ho. I%u2019ve often thought about how many of those people never came back." Candidates with the high level of personal integrity and proven track record of adherance to The Constitution, Congressman Paul has always demonstrated only come around once in a lifetime, if we''re lucky.

[gwtwboofy]

These idiots ARE NOT of the Baptist religion. What they believe is neither Baptist doctrine nor Christian nor human, for that matter. I don''t know what they are (other than idiots) but its not God who''s leading them, more like Satan. Its nuts like this that give people the wrong view of religion and turn people away from God. I hope Mr. Snyder gets every cent of the judgment. These people are the false prophets the Bible speaks of. To use God for their power-hungry, hate campaign? I''d hate to be in their shoes. God won''t tolerate them using His Word for such hateful, merciless acts. They need to try reading the Bible.

[oldprophet]

You get the sense that our country is desperate for someone to show us the way. Not the old way. Not the same way, but a NEW WAY. Think about this for a minute. What if we pulled all of our troops out of South Korea? They''ve been there for 50+ years. What if we quit worrying about Iran, but instead, realized that its having a nuclear weapon will not mean the end of the world? What if we pulled all of our troops out of the Middle-East, and brought them all home? What if we realistically addressed the National Debt, and paid attention to REALLY DOING SOMETHING about stopping illegal immigration? These are the ideas of Republican Presidential candidate, Dr. Ron Paul. He''s a ten term Congressman and a physician who has delivered over 4,000 babies. He''s an intellectual who''s published four books, three of which are devoted entirely to sound economics. He was raised on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania as a pious Lutheran, but now he attends a Baptist church. Paul is given to mulling things over morally. Whenever he recollects the helicopter pilots he gave physicals to as an Air Force Flight Surgeon during the Vietnam War, a war which he now says was "totally unnecessary and illegal," he laments, "They were gung-ho. I%u2019ve often thought about how many of those people never came back." Candidates with the high level of personal integrity and proven track record of adherance to The Constitution, Congressman Paul has always demonstrated only come around once in a lifetime, if we''re lucky.

[dmhphils]

If you go to their website www.godhatesfags.com, you will see that these nuts have a schedule for protesting other soldier''s funerals all over the country. Someone needs to warn these families and notify lawenforcement since they have already been sued once, maybe they will get the message.

I am a Christian and they surely don''t know what spirit they are of.

[arealtexan]

Some group should start protesting against the Westboro protests and hold up signs saying "THANK GOD FOR DEAD RELIGIOUS NUTS", and "GOD HATES RELIGIOUS NUTS".



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Posted by gunownerdan at 02:45 PM : Nov 01, 2007

I spent several years of my life as a minister of the true Gospel of Christ, and all I can say to this comment is a hearty AMEN. People who abuse religion for such purposes are sad, sad, sad....

[michellem99-2009]

The hate has to stop..Did ye raise yer paw and serve in the military..No..I could not..I wanted to..I don''t care he was a vet..They got no business treating him in that manner..Dad take every cent and close them down..

[toolmangler-2009]

Posted by SlipSter01 at 07:12 PM : Nov 01, 2007


Don''t do that again! If it was an accident please be more careful.

[slipster01]

"zootallures2 "

If I wanted your opinion, I''d have asked Ted Kennedy for it instead of you, since even drunk he makes more sense than you.

[slipster01]

"zootallures2 "

If I wanted your opinion, I''d have asked Ted Kennedy for it instead of you, since even drunk he makes more sense than you.

[slipster01]

"zootallures2 "

If I wanted your opinion, I''d have asked Ted Kennedy for it instead of you, since even drunk he makes more sense than you.

[slipster01]

"zootallures2 "

If I wanted your opinion, I''d have asked Ted Kennedy for it instead of you, since even drunk he makes more sense than you.

[slipster01]

"zootallures2 "

If I wanted your opinion, I''d have asked Ted Kennedy for it instead of you, since even drunk he makes more sense than you.

[slipster01]

"zootallures2 "

If I wanted your opinion, I''d have asked Ted Kennedy for it instead of you, since even drunk he makes more sense than you.

[slipster01]

"zootallures2 "

If I wanted your opinion, I''d have asked Ted Kennedy for it instead of you, since even drunk he makes more sense than you.