[Lurking Libertarian]

I’d sure like to see the precedent that the judge used to make the Marine’s family pay the court costs of the person who appealed. I keep hearing that that’s one of the big ways we could cut down on frivolous lawsuits is if the loser who filed suit pays the winner’s court costs for defending themselves, so I don’t believe for a minute that this is common practice.

He was not ordered to pay Phelps' legal fees, only court costs (filing fees, court reporters, copying costs, etc.). That is mandatory in every federal case-- the loser always is ordered to pay costs, under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 54(d)(1) and Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure 39(a)(3).

The proposals for "loser pays" are to require the loser to pay the winner's lawyers' fees, which are typically much, much more than the court costs.

[BykrBayb]

The judge ordered him to pay phelps $16,510. That doesn’t sound to me like court costs.