Judge orders lien on Westboro church

http://www.examiner.com/a-1319944~Judge_orders_lien_on_Westboro_church.html ^ | Apr 4, 2008 | Mike Silvestri

[BufordP]

BALTIMORE - A federal judge in Baltimore ordered Westboro Baptist Church members to post their church building and nearly $500,000 more in cash and property while appealing a judgment for protesting a Marine’s funeral.

The Kansas church members had hoped to avoid posting a bond while delaying payments in the $5 million judgment a jury awarded Albert Snyder, the father of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder who died in Iraq.

Westboro church members preach that God kills American soldiers as punishment for the country’s tolerance of homosexuality. They protested Matthew Snyder’s Westminster funeral in March 2006 by waving signs with such messages as "Thank God for dead soldiers" and "God hates fags."

U.S. District Court Judge Richard Bennett rejected their motion Thursday, ruling it would require "extraordinary circumstances" to avoid posting a portion of the judgment.

"The property could not be sold, no further mortgage could be placed on the property, and it essentially would be frozen in time," Bennett said. He ordered liens on the $443,000 church and a $233,000 office owned by Fred Phelps, the church’s founder.

He also ordered two of Phelps’ daughters to post cash bonds within 30 days. Shirley Phelps-Roper was ordered to post $125,000; Rebekah Phelps-Davis, $100,000 because the original judgment against her was less than her sister’s.

If the church is successful in its appeal, the money would be returned and the liens would be lifted.

The church’s finances have raised questions of how members can afford to travel the country to protest hundreds of funerals each year, but only have a few hundred dollars in their bank accounts.

"If you ordered any one of them here today, they probably couldn’t afford to come, but yet they travel the world," said Sean Summers, Snyder’s attorney. "There’s money somewhere." In a telephone conservation with the court, Phelps’ daughters said they accepted the lien but vowed to fight payments even if they lost their appeal.

Phelps-Roper submitted to the court her income tax returns from last year, which showed she earned about $20,000 as a part-time lawyer. She and her husband have a home with about $175,000 in equity, and they donated about $64,000 to the church last year, Bennett said.

Phelps-Davis earned last year about $55,000 as a lawyer. She and her husband have a home worth about $162,000 in equity and they donated about $7,000 to the church, Bennett said.

msilvestri@baltimoreexaminer.com

[Marysecretary]

Hmm, George Soros comes to mind.

[Just A Nobody]

Something smells and it ain't me. (Very cute, btw.)

Why do you say that? Doesn't everyone tithe nearly 37% of their gross income? /s

[reagan_fanatic]

Good. Tie them up with litigation and threats of lawsuits, just like they do to anyone who dares cross them. Bleed them to death financially.

Bunch of knuckle-dragging neanderthals.

[CindyDawg]

If they lose then all protestors could be silenced. Shunning/ignoring was working. Do we really want our courts involved in this?

[beachn4fun]

LOL

I WISH I made enough to tithe 37%!!!!

[Boblo]

Dangerous precedent. These are despicable people but similar actions could be taken against any group, select a sympathetic jury and a liberal judge and we have real problems.

[RDTF]

made my day!

[Mount Athos]

Let’s hope the government gets a lot more involved in bankrupting churches that say unacceptable things.

Let this be a precedent for bankrupting churches around the country that preach the wrong thing.

Wait a minute, I thought this was free republic, not gestapo republic. Why are we cheering people losing their church for what they said.

Can I be disgusted with what they say, and where they said it, and still not cheer them being bankrupted by lawsuit? Isn’t this a really dangerous precedent?

In Europe churches are under threat of bankruptcy for preaching ordinary christianity. They will trot out speech codes saying Christianity is anti-gay, and must be banned.

Imagine lawsuits for preaching Christian ideology in the wrong place, and having it bankrupt you utterly. Is that something you would cheer?

[DManA]

Be fascinating to know what that green and yellow flag flying above the church was all about.

[FroedrickVonFreepenstein]

That is the flag of the City of Topeka.

[digger48]

Imagine lawsuits for preaching Christian ideology in the wrong place, and having it bankrupt you utterly. Is that something you would cheer?

The jury must not have thought they were "preaching"

In June 2006, Snyder sued the tight-knit fundamentalist Christian church and three of its members individually. The father argued that Westboro’s demonstrations exacerbated his pain and suffering in March 2006 while he mourned the death of his only son.

Specifically, he charged that they violated his privacy, intentionally inflicted emotional harm and engaged in a conspiracy to carry out their activities. The jury decided in Snyder’s favor on every count.

Albert Snyder, Father of Slain Marine, Wins Lawsuit Against Westboro Baptist Church

[tsmith130]

In a telephone conservation with the court,....

Somebody mixed up their 's' and their 'v'.

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch.

[Big Guy and Rusty 99]

It seems to me that God hates Westboro Baptist Church now.

[BufordP]

...then all protestors could be silenced...

Ah, yeaaahhh... now could you have those TPS reports to me first thing tomorrow morning. Thaaannnks.

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

If they lose then all protestors could be silenced. Shunning/ignoring was working. Do we really want our courts involved in this?

I don't believe that is true. That's like saying if we ban speeding than all driving will be stopped. There are limits, we used to call them common sense limits, on any right.

The right to free speech doesn't mean you can start a panic by yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theater.

The right to free press doesn't mean you can print libelous comments.

The right to practice religion doesn't mean you can cut someone's heart out in sacrifice to Kali.

The right to peaceably assemble doesn't mean you can disrupt the private funeral service of a private individual.

(And shunning/ignoring wasn't working, they have become more and more active over the last few years.)

[xtinct]

OMG... that's hilarious... finally a judgement day for the liberal psychos!!!

And, prayers go out to that marine and his family...

a hometown hero

[Girlene]

Phelps-Roper submitted to the court her income tax returns from last year, which showed she earned about $20,000 as a part-time lawyer. She and her husband have a home with about $175,000 in equity, and they donated about $64,000 to the church last year, Bennett said.

Either Mr. Phelps-Roper makes a decent income or something is really wierd with their finances. $64,000 in church donations? I believe the limit on charitable donations is 50% of your adjusted gross income.

[xzins]

Mt Athos, this is not a free speech issue. This is an invasion of privacy issue and an infliction of emotional distress issue when the church invaded another’s private ceremony.

As I see it, Phelps and crew trespassed on the actual private ceremony and disrupted it in an intentionally distress-producing, cruel manner.

They were free to speak their minds about the military every second of that day. They weren’t free to invade a private funeral.

[Tax-chick]

You can contribute as much to charity as you want. However, there is a limit to how much *total* Schedule A deductions you can take without triggering Alternative Minimum Tax. There are also “floors” (a percentage of income) that must be reached before you can deduct some expenses, such as medical bills.

The really interesting number here is $64,000 of church donations out of $20,000 of income! This suggests to me that she is deducting the value of her donated services to the church, and that can be mighty hard to justify in an audit. For instance, the IRS wouldn’t buy it if I tried to deduct as “charitable contributions” the value of my Sunday School teacher services and Spanish choir director services at the rates a paid worker would charge for the same activities.