Dad Ordered To Pay Legal Costs
 

Sorry I couldn't see where this was already posted.

(CNN) -- The father of a Marine whose funeral was picketed by the Westboro Baptist Church says an order to pay the protesters' legal costs in a civil claim is nothing less than a "slap in the face."

"By the court making this decision, they're not only telling me that they're taking their side, but I have to pay them money to do this to more soldiers and their families," said Albert Snyder, whose son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, was killed in action in Iraq in 2006.

Members of the fundamentalist church based in Topeka, Kansas, appeared outside Snyder's funeral in 2006 in Westminster, Maryland, carrying signs reading "You're going to hell," "God hates you" and "Thank God for dead soldiers."

Among the teachings of the church, which was founded in 1955 by pastor Fred Phelps, is the belief that God is punishing the United States for "the sin of homosexuality" through events such as soldiers' deaths.

Margie Phelps, the daughter of Fred Phelps and the attorney representing the church in its appeals, also said the money that the church receives from Snyder will be used to finance demonstrations. But she also said that the order was a consequence of his decision to sue the church over the demonstration.

"Mr. Snyder and his attorneys have engaged the legal system; there are some rules to that legal engagement," said Phelps, a member of Westboro who says she has participated in more than 150 protests of military funerals.

"They wanted to shut down the picketing so now they're going to finance it," she said.

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday ordered that Snyder pay more than $16,000 in costs requested by Westboro for copies of motions, briefs and appendices, according to court documents.

In a motion filed in October, Snyder's lawyer, who is representing him for free, asked the court to dismiss the bill of costs, or, alternatively, reduce the 50-cent fee per page or charge Snyder only for copies that were necessary to make their arguments on appeal.

"We objected based upon ability to pay and the fairness of the situation," Sean Summers said.

The mostly pro-forma ruling is the latest chapter in an ongoing legal saga that pits privacy rights of grieving families against the free speech rights of demonstrators, however disturbing and provocative their message.

Snyder's family sued the church and went to trial in 2007 alleging privacy invasion, intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy. A jury awarded the family $2.9 million in compensatory damages plus $8 million in punitive damages, which were reduced to $5 million.

Westboro in 2008 appealed the case to the 4th District, which reversed the judgments a year later, siding with the church's claims that its First Amendment rights had been violated.

"The protest was confined to a public area under supervision and regulation of local law enforcement and did not disrupt the church service," the circuit court opinion said. "Although reasonable people may disagree about the appropriateness of the Phelps' protest, this conduct simply does not satisfy the heavy burden required for the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress under Maryland law."

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case to address issues of laws designed to protect the "sanctity and dignity of memorial and funeral services" as well as the privacy of family and friends of the deceased.

The justices will be asked to address how far states and private entities such as cemeteries and churches can go to justify picket-free zones and the use of "floating buffers" to silence or restrict speech or movements of demonstrators exercising their constitutional rights in a funeral setting.

Both Phelps and Snyder's attorney said they were surprised that the 4th District chose to weigh in on the issue of legal costs when they could have waited until after the Supreme Court hearing.

Phelps believes the ruling bodes well for her side.

"It is a good harbinger of the fact that the Supreme Court will remind this nation that you don't have mob rule. The fact that so many people hate these words does not mean you can silence or penalize them. That's supposed to be the great liberty that we congratulate ourselves on protecting in this nation. We strut all around the world forcing people to give all the liberties we supposedly have," she said.

Phelps anticipated that a Supreme Court ruling in the church's favor would be unpopular, but she said Westboro's members viewed the potential outcome in Biblical terms.

"When the Supreme Court unanimously upholds the 4th Circuit, it's going to put this country in a rage, and we will be expelled," she said. "But whenever it was time for an epic event in the Bible, the thing that happened right before is the prophets were removed from the land, and that's what's going to happen to us. ... We're going to sprint to the end of this race."

Snyder claims he is unable to pay any legal costs in the case and is attempting to raise funds on his son's site, http://www.matthewsnyder.org/. He is equally optimistic that he will prevail before the Supreme Court.

"The American people keep my spirits lifted a lot and give me hope. I think most of the country is on my side on this issue," he said. "Too many people have died to protect our rights and freedoms to have them degraded and spit upon like this church does."

I wouldn't of had to worry about paying any legal fees I'd be on death row but there would be alot of protesters not going home that day.:mad:

That is a croc 'o kaka...but if I'm not mistakin' Conan O'Brian is pickin' up the tab...

2010/03/30/id/354287[/url]

It's a crock.

I've been a "floating buffer" for alot of funeral missions... As long as I am above ground, I will continue to be one.

Bring it on WBC.

When Chris crossed over, we did NOT do any interviews because that nut case was camping out in front of President Bush's ranch protesting, and with the way my heart and my mind was in August 2005, I would have ended up in prison if some dumba$$ from the lamestream media stuck a microphone in my face or if those morons from Kansas were anywhere NEAR Arlington. My heart aches for that father and that fallen heroes family. And for the Patriot Guard and ANYONE that serves to buffer a greaving family from something that they should NEVER have to suffer - thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you do for other Gold Star families --- it truly matters!!!

I was flying somewhere a while ago and saw some members of the Patriot Guard on their way to a funeral. I went up to thank them and buy them a cup of coffee. While we were talking, they told me of the first court ruling against those slime from Kansas, and it made my day!!! I sincerely hope there is a special place in hell for them, because they have taken to making one of the worse days imaginable for a Gold Star family THAT much worse.

I heard that Bill O'Reilly has volunteered to pay the court costs for that family - my hat's off to him for that.

molon labe

I heard the same.


Too bad they don't hear voices commanding them to kill themselves. You know, in sacrifice to their "god". POS bastards.

May the Westboro church members ROT IN HELL, SLOWLY, OVER A SPIT!!!

There is NO, I repeat NO justification for their actions. They are all losers, liars, and wannabees, and all go crying to their mother leader...how pathetic!!!!:mad:

JMHO,

Holly

These days, that would be a full time job.

First off, my condolences to you and your family. Having both sons deployed at various times, this scenario played in my brain more then a few times, but to live through it... well, I really cannot imagine.

I believe these folks do this on purpose in order to start a ruckus and then file a lawsuit hoping to collect. I believe this is how they make there money. It's an insult against the family, their departed loved one and against everything that is good and right about us as human beings and Americans. It's a testament to our belief in being law abiding citizens that these folks are still stealing oxygen. It's almost beyond comprehension.

When my oldest came back from Iraq after having lost many friends during the deployment, he passed a car on the freeway which had a support the troops sticker with the red circle around it and a line running through it. He tossed an object at the car's windshield to let the driver know his feelings on the subject. I cautioned him on this kind of action, but I really don't believe he cared much for my advice. Some things run too deep.

Kind of interesting that an appellate court threw out a $5 million award against this church. Also interesting issues that the Supreme Court is going to hear.

Snyder v. Phelps
Case Information
General Information about the case
Docket Number
09-751
Date Granted
03/08/2010
Appealed From
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth CircuitAttorneys
Attorney information for this case
Attorneys for Petitioner:
Sean E. Summers
Barley Snyder LLC
(717) 846-8888
Counsel of Record
100 East Market Street
P.O. Box 15012
York, PA 17405-7012
Party name: Albert Snyder

Attorneys for Respondents:
Margie J. Phelps
3734 SW 12th Street
(785) 408-4598
Counsel of Record
Topeka, KS 66604
Party name: Fred W. Phelps, Sr., et al.
Court takes funeral protest case (March 8, 2010)
Case Reference:
Snyder v. Phelps
The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether the First Amendment protects picketing the funerals of soldiers killed in combat.

The case concerns a lawsuit filed by the family of a Marine, Matthew Snyder, after members of the Westboro Baptist Church picketed his funeral.

The family accused the Westboro Baptist Church and its founders of defamation, invasion of privacy and the intentional infliction of emotional distress for displaying signs that said, "Thank God for dead soldiers" and "Fag troops" at Snyder's funeral.

U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett awarded the family $5 million in damages, but a three-judge panel on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that the judgment violated the First Amendment's protections on religious expression. The church members' speech is protected, "notwithstanding the distasteful and repugnant nature of the words," according to the court.

On March 8, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.

Question presented: (1) Whether the prohibition of awarding damages to public figures to compensate for the intentional infliction of emotional distress, under the Supreme Court’s First Amendment precedents, applies to a case involving two private persons regarding a private matter; (2) whether the freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment trumps its freedom of religion and peaceful assembly; and (3) whether an individual attending a family member’s funeral constitutes a “captive audience” who is entitled to state protection from unwanted communication

http://onthedocket.org/cases/2009/snyder-v-phelps

Notice that the Phelps organization is represented by an attorney named -- surprise -- Phelps. Old man Phelps may be an asshole, but he is a smart asshole. Most of his children are lawyers, some on the public payroll.

Here's a link to the 4th Circuit's opinion. The language used by the church in this case is maddening.

http://pacer.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinion.pdf/081026.P.pdf

use the same tactics
 

Question for you lawyers. Would it not be legal to use the same tactics against Fred's church? People picketing and chanting outside while they are having church services? Maybe carrying signs saying "God hates incest" and such? Make even more scurrilous claims than fred and all do?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo8I-...eature=related

And so it goes...

Richard's $.02 :munchin