Fred Phelps sued by father of Marine who was killed in Iraq

NASHVILLE, Tenn.(BP)Fred Phelps and his independent Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., have been ordered to pay nearly $11 million in damages for invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress to the father of a Marine who died in Iraq."They turned this funeral into a media circus and they wanted to hurt my family," Albert Synder, whose son Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder died in March 2006, testified during a trial in Baltimore Oct. 24. "They wanted their message heard and they didn't care who they stepped over. My son should have been buried with dignity, not with a bunch of clowns outside."A jury awarded Snyder $2.9 million in compensatory damages and $8 million in punitive damages Oct. 31, but the Associated Press reported that it's unclear whether Snyder will be able to collect the damages given that the assets of the church are less than $1 million, mainly in homes, cars and retirement accounts belonging to members.Observers said the case examined whether the First Amendment guarantee of free speech extends to the church's picketing of soldiers' funerals with signs that read "God Hates You" and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers.""I see that sign when I lay in bed," Snyder said in court, according to AP.[[[[[Westboro Baptist is not affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention or any other Baptist denomination, and its 60 members are mostly relatives of Phelps, the pastor who has been at the center of controversy for years.]]]]](1)The congregation believes soldiers are dying in the war on terror because God is judging America for tolerating homosexuals.Several states, including Maryland, where Snyder's funeral was held, have since passed laws banning funeral protests such as those by Westboro Baptist, and Congress has passed a law prohibiting protests at military funerals at federal cemeteries. This case was believed to be the first filed by the family of a fallen serviceman, AP said.Snyder's attorney said the church should not be allowed to hide behind a free speech argument because they abused a "captive audience," which included about 500 funeral guests who were forced to listen to and see the protests. One key question, AP reported, was whether a church, funeral home or cemetery should be considered private or public during a ceremony.U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett, who presided over the case, told jurors there are limits to free speech, including speech that is vulgar, offensive and shocking, and he asked jurors to decide whether the church group's actions would be highly offensive to a reasonable person, AP said.A university of Baltimore law professor said the fact that the Westboro Baptist case was decided by a jury rather than a judge was in Snyder's favor."Judges are probably more neutral, more sterile, less emotionally attached," Byron Warnken told AP. "Whereas, in this case, my gut feeling is there's a tremendous gathering of support from an empathy or sympathy standpoint, or just an outrage standpoint, in favor of the plaintiffs."

http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=26748

PS:(1)I wanted to post this from the Baptist Press to show that this crazy church is not affiliated with the Baptists at all....

As in the days of Noah....