Albert Snyder, the father of a Marine killed in Iraq in 2006, sued Fred Phelps after Westboro Baptist “Church” picketed his son’s funeral. A jury awarded the father a $3 million judgment.
Phelps appealed the ruling and on Friday, an appeals court overturned the judgment based on free speech rights. Snyder was ordered to pay Phelps’ court costs of $16,500.
Snyder has said he has no intention of paying Phelps any money and the Supreme Court agreed today to hear this first amendment case. The competing argument that the court will consider is the privacy and religious rights of mourners.
4 Comments
It will cost a bundle to take this to the Supreme Court. Perhaps we should start a fund raising effort to help with the costs?
This man Phelps belongs in Jail. Check out what his son has to say.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW2JgPMQdVc&feature=related
This is a very sad story, however, Baptists (not always WBC) have been protesting Gay funerals and events for years. It’s good that Christians can now see the hurt they cause.
Mary, the “hurt they cause” isn’t going to register with them. You see, they don’t care. All that matters is that they (a) convince themselves that they are right and everyone else is wrong and (b) they get the last word. First Baptist Church of Dallas is just as vindictive and hateful in their approach to “outsiders” as Westboro Baptist Church, perhaps even moreso.