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

[SkyDancer]

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BufordP]

Since the Westboro Church is pretty much an exclusive Phelps family institution, I’m thinking any “charitable contributions” to the church are basically a tax avoidance scheme of their income right back into their own pockets.

[vrwc1]

Great news! Hopefully they’ll lose their “church” and personal money, and we’ll never see another “protest” from these idiots.

[Dengar01]

I want to know where they get their money from and who is really behind them in full detail.

I would bet you ANYTHING that the money behind this group comes from George Soros.

They are a fake "Baptist" group set up to make real Christians look bad. All you need to see is the photo of Phelps with Algore.

[Girlene]

I think the $20K was only Mrs. Phelps-Roper income, not the combined income of she and her husband. The article doesn’t say what his income was. Still, it’s a huge donation to a church.

[Tax-chick]

Could be. If it’s a joint return, he may have a large income that makes the expenses more reasonable.

As others have pointed out, the whole group of them may be living off the “church” ‘s cash flow anyway, making their reported income just a legal fiction.

[Girlene]

I’m thinking any “charitable contributions” to the church are basically a tax avoidance scheme of their income right back into their own pockets.

Kinda what I was thinking, also. Wonder if the IRS has ever audited the member's taxes.

[dfwgator]

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.

Don't get me started on the AMT.

[Tax-chick]

Me, either! My kids would go hungry if I began to rant :-).

[P-Marlowe]

Why are we cheering people losing their church for what they said.

Because seizing their property to pay the damage they inflicted is the just thing to do.

Intentional infliction of emotional distress is a tort. Cheering the death of a soldier at his funeral leaves the realm of free speech and becomes the functional equivalent of yelling fire in a crowded theater.

These people have a right to hate homosexuals and to preach hate of homosexuals and to preach hatred for America. However there are legitimate limitations on free speech and when one uses free speech to deliberately cause severe emotional distress in an outrageous manner, then your speech becomes the functional equivalent of a physical assualt.

What these people engaged in was a tort. They were sued. They lost. They need to pay damages. If they fail to pay damages, then their property should be seized in order to pay those damages.

Its that simple.

[Redbob]

"Do we really want our courts involved in this?"

That some kind of trick question?

How about
YES!
for an answer.

[DManA]

The City of Topeka must be soooo proud.

[Balding_Eagle]

Do we really want our courts involved in this?

NO!

[Girlene]

According to this link from Wikipedia,all the principals of the Phelps Chartered law firm,[15] a firm founded by WBC founder Fred Phelps, are members of WBC. Phelps Chartered handles most of WBC's legal work and has received significant awards of attorney's fees from the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Award Act of 1976 when WBC had been improperly prevented from picketing.[16]

....."The Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Award Act of 1976 is a law of the United States. It is often referred to as "Section 1988". It allows a Federal court to award reasonable attorneys' fees to a prevailing party in certain civil rights cases.

The Act was designed to create an enforcement mechanism for the nation's civil rights laws without creating an enforcement bureaucracy."....

..."Some organizations like the ACLU collect sizable fees [1] by acting as private attorneys general. More recently the Phelps Chartered law firm has collected fees [2] for defending the Westboro Baptist Church. ".....

So that's where all their money comes from! Us! They protest to be sued, then get paid attorney's fees by the federal government to defend themselves. What a racket.

[xzins]

I agree totally, PM.

The church was also found guilty of invasion of privacy. I see that as similar to “trespass.” Is that accurate?

[Mr. Silverback]

To paraphrase Jack Nicholson...”they messed with the wrong Marine!”

[Jo Nuvark]

[... church finances have raised the question 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...]

I seriously doubt if this question will ever be answered.

FOLLOW THE MONEY, HONEY!

[Ann Archy]

SCUM is too good a word for these bastards. DO NOT USE THE LORD’S NAME IN VAIN!! THAT MEANS YOU< WESTBORO!

[San Jacinto]

I get your point, but here is what I wish for in this case: Judgment affirmed on appeal; lien on church foreclosed; New owners sell church and it is turned into a car wash.

Oh, and one other thing— I wish the next time these buffoons showed up at a Marine’s furneral with a sign that says “Thank God for Dead Soldiers” that the antendees would just beat the holy crap out of each one of them.

[PatrioticMarineMom]

LOL! Messing with ANY MARINE is constitutes the wrong Marine.