Posted on 03/09/2011 11:48:46 AM PST by Hawk720
WASHINGTON - The father of a Marine killed in Iraq won't pay the nearly $100,000 in court costs charged by Westboro Baptist Church, which picketed his son's 2006 funeral, in the wake of his unsuccessful lawsuit against the group, his lawyer said.
"We're not just going to write them a check," Sean Summers, lawyer for Albert Snyder, said Friday. "We're going to make them work for it." The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 last week that Westboro's anti-gay protests were speech protected under the First Amendment. The decision upheld the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals' decision to deny Snyder's suit against the anti-gay church's founder, Fred Phelps.
Snyder's son, Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, was not gay, but the church pickets military funerals nationwide because they say soldiers' deaths are God's vengeance for the country's tolerance of homosexuality.
A lower court awarded Albert Snyder $5 million in damages for emotional distress. However, at the Supreme Court, all the justices except Samuel Alito sided with Westboro, which means Snyder may be on the hook for the church's court costs.
Westboro member and lead lawyer Margie Phelps said it was nobody's business whether the church used the money to finance more funeral protests.
"He intended to shut us down and he announced that far and wide," she said. "And the Pentagon backed him up on it. That was their plan. And now they're going to finance some of it, that's how they see it. It's a beautiful, poetic thing."
(Excerpt) Read more at hometownannapolis.com ...
Unless a miracle happens, Mr. Snyder will in part. To the tune of $100,000. This truly is a sad state of affairs.
They are not a church. They do not even consider themselves Christians.
With only a hundred members, not much.
But the fact are that churches AREN’T supposed to do politics, why are they getting away with this? I remember a church in the first election or maybe the second, against Clintoon, they had the license taken away for running an ad.
Maybe it is time for the church to grab “their” model, and fight back. Not necessarily at funerals, but other ways.
One of these days these folks are gonna piss off someone who has nothing left to lose and that will be the last we hear of Fred Phelps and his church.
And when someone posts a thread about it here on FR, my reply will consist of, "Good! It's about time!"
If ya gotta pay ‘em,,, pay ‘em in pennies. And not US pennies!
Help yourself. Their address is 3107 W. 12th Street in Topeka. The zip code there, by the way, is the eerily appropriate 66604.
Oops, make that 3701 W. 12th, not 3107.
That is what is so truly evil about this.
A man’s son dies defending this country.
This “church” comes and makes a mockery of his death.
Church loses case.
Church sues to SC.
Church wins.
I swear, if this had been a true church of God, preaching Christ, this would not have happened. NO WAY would the lefties would let a REAL church win ANY court case. Not that such a church would protest a funeral of a solider, ....
The IRS and needs to check on this so called Cult on its tax exempt status.
The family should not have to pay the POS anything. when the Westboro family attorney was talking this past Sunday, I refused to watch the bietch.
The next soldiers whom dies in the UP of Michigan many of us former military guys have agreed to show up to form a buffer between the family and the Westboro Cult. If they try to pass through, several of us will have cattle prods to shock them in the backside.
No more should this happen in America. ( Personally I loved to shove something up their collective backsides).
NO 1982 or earlier pennies, that is for sure!
They are currently worth 3 cents, last I looked.
Vikane works well.
Westboro’s pretty sick all right. I live about 40 miles east of them. I used to see the pack of them occasionally at the Kansas City airport, no doubt on the way to one of their protests. A motlier crew never walked the earth.
You're looking at it. Either they sue others who try to stop their protests, or when others sue them they claim legal fees. Since their lawyers are members, the legal fees are basically profit.
And they will add those collection costs on top of the current judgment.
Yup! That’s the facts, Jack!
Are these costs or attorney’s fees? And why were they awarded in the first place. “Loser pays” is not the norm in our system.
actually is is the norm, particularly on appeals.
The real issue is whether the father is collectable and how long they have to collect. Also he can declare a bankruptcy and eliminate the fees as an unsecured debt.
It just depends on his state’s property exemptions.
If his pension and homestead are protected they really can’t collect a dime.
Homosexuality/sodomy are some of the ones, historically speaking, that have received the strongest rebuke from the God of the Bible.
None of which has anything to do with the right of a grieving father to give his son, slain in battle, a solemn and dignified burial.
How the hell is he being held liable for the atty costs? Normally, it has to be an egregious reason to award such costs.
“”We’re not just going to write them a check,” Sean Summers, lawyer for Albert Snyder, said Friday. “We’re going to make them work for it.”
“And they will add those collection costs on top of the current judgment.”
Sadly, I think you are right. Could this dad declare bankruptcy? I do not know if would be in their interest or not, but it would be one way to give this evil family the, well, you know.
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