Father Of Marine Killed In Iraq Wins $2.9 Million Lawsuit Against Protesters

Ken McCracken • November 1, 2007

Protesters who disrupted the Marine’s funeral with vile slogans and signs bearing insulting messages.

Albert Snyder of York, Pa., the father of a Westminster Marine who was killed in Iraq, today won his case in a Baltimore federal court against members of Topeka, Kan.-based Westboro Baptist Church who protested at his son’s funeral last year.
The jury of five women and four men awarded Snyder $2.9 million in compensatory damages. The amount of punitive damages to be awarded has not yet been decided. The jury deliberated for about two hours yesterday and much of today.
Snyder was the first in the nation to attempt to hold members of Westboro Baptist Church legally liable for their shock protests at military funerals after the church protested the military’s inclusion of gays at the funeral of Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder, a 2003 Westminster High School graduate who died March 3, 2006, in a vehicle accident in Anbar province.

I’ve long held that protests interfering with the private assembly of others are not free speech. While the folks at the Westboro Baptist Church certainly have a right to protest, that right does not extend to interfering with other citizens’ right to assemble. If they stood out of sight of the funeral, and weren’t disruptive to the proceedings, I’d say that they weren’t in the wrong. As long as both groups of citizens – both funeral attendees and protesters – can exercise their rights all is well.
But that didn’t happen in this situation, so the protesters were held liable for damages. And “loss of the ability to mourn a dead son at his funeral” sounds like it’s worth about $2.9 million to me.

Tags: Asshats, Freedom Of Speech, Politics, The Loony Left

http://Array docdave

“Protest” implies that they have some agenda beyond hating everyone who isn’t them.

That could apply to the entire ‘hate Bush’ crowd of loonies couldn’t it?
http://ewebsmith.com/ ews48

Now we’re getting some place.

While the protesters were speaking out against exactly the type of thing the framers intended for them to have the right to do, there never was an intent to give anyone the right to disrupt privacy. There was also not an intent to allow vulgar or obscene language. In many democratic European countries, this is considered an assault punishable by fines and/or jail time.

The framers sought to guaranty political and religious freedom.
2Hotel9

Hail and well met, Brother! Word around the campfire is these scumbags are going to be working your region a lot. They stay out of Texas and Fred himself travels very little. Seems as if there are a few warrants outstanding for him in several states.

And do not swing on any of these assholes. That is what they are working for, and they are really going to be pushing the lines after this.

Anna, you have no idea how true that is. They are, in fact, quite careful about where and when they show up. Want lots of witnesses, not too rural a location. We snatched they ass here in rural PA 3 years ago, they have refined their method since.
Dave

Jury came back, decided on $8 million in punitive damages, so about $11 million total.

Good thing this is a liberal blog opposed to tort reform, or you guys would be so pissed right now!
Tom

2H9–live in North Dakota,stand flag lines here and Minn.
Duane

Tom and 2H9 -
God bless you for what you do. I have been to soldier’s funerals and the impact you have on the families, whether there are protests or not, are immeasurable.

Thank you, and keep it up.
spartacus

BTW, the jury just decided on the punitive, total loss for the clan is just under $11 million. I’d have liked to see it 2.9 to a minimum of the tenth power, but with the price of gas now-a-days this might slow them down..a little.
http://www.donkephant.net/ donkephant

I think that if they had kept it clean and done the protest properly, they would have been fine. But to be vulgar, loud and disrespectful really ended up putting the proverbial nails in the coffin. I think the fact that their vulgarity and disrespect was aimed at the soldier personally caused the final verdict.

Obviously, the guy and his family are a little twisted and are really misguided if they claim that they do it in the name of God.

They got their due. But I see it going on to the court of appeals and possibly on to the Supreme Court also.
2Hotel9

Tom, where you stand watch? I’m in PA, been toe to toe with this scumbag twice. He tried to have me PFAed and the Federal Judge in Pittsburgh smacked his ass down. I greatly enjoyed watching him stare at the floor and mumble till she ordered him to look up and speak clearly. What a fuckbag. He sends his daughter into PA now, he is scared we will have him arrested.
http://ndgoon.blogspot.com/ goon

This is a good deal….
http://sayanythingblog.com/readers/author/Anna/ Anna

Y’all realize there’s going to come a day this Phelps clan is going to protest the wrong funeral and someone is going to die.
spartacus

I hope the reason the jury took so long was deciding what to award as damages and not guilt. I also hope the punitive damages are equal to compensatory damages with a large positive exponent in this case, just to send a clear message.
spartacus

They got their due. But I see it going on to the court of appeals and possibly on to the Supreme Court also.

I really hope you’re right on that one Donk. I also hope the decision is supported all the way through the process just to clarify to those who seem to not understand that although speech is free, it’s often wiser to take a few minutes and think about what your message is and how you should present it.
rickinstl

I hate those effin “people”. Just hate them.
One quibble: What these pigs do is not “protest”.
It’s “demonstrate”. Their hatred. Their dark-heartedness. Their need for a thorough ass kicking.
“Protest” implies that they have some agenda beyond hating everyone who isn’t them.
spartacus

Dave, I beat you to the update. You would have known that if you had taken the 2 minutes to read the first 10 comments, anyway welcome to the party and don’t run away just because we’re both wearing the same dress.
tom

Great verdict. I have witnessed their vileness while standing in flag lines at funerals. I agree everyone has the right to protest but there is a time and place for it, not at the funeral of a fallen soldier.
Pilgrim

YES!!!!!!

Now I hope the rest of the people who had to endure these vile creatures disrpting what should have been their time sue them too. And take every damn thing they’ve got.

But, hey, that’s just me.
Pilgrim

Agreed, Donk, but this will send a clear warning to others of his ilk. Protest if you wish, but at the very scene of a funeral is off limits.
2Hotel9

Sorry, nothing in this ruling stops the Phelpsfuks from speaking. So the whole “freedom of speech” meme is BS.
http://sayanythingblog.com robport

I think that if they had kept it clean and done the protest properly, they would have been fine. But to be vulgar, loud and disrespectful really ended up putting the proverbial nails in the coffin. I think the fact that their vulgarity and disrespect was aimed at the soldier personally caused the final verdict.

Obviously, the guy and his family are a little twisted and are really misguided if they claim that they do it in the name of God.

They got their due. But I see it going on to the court of appeals and possibly on to the Supreme Court also.

Donk, on your blog you say you think the ruling was wrong because it violates 1st amendment rights. The way I see it, there’s a balance of rights.

Remember that citizens have a right to assemble as well as a right to free speech. Why should your right to speech trump my right to assemble?

SCOTUS has long upheld time and place limitations on free speech, and I think this fits the bill. When we’re talking about one persons rights intruding upon another’s, there’s got to be a balance.

As for Davey’s point about tort reform, I didn’t know that being in favor of such reform meant that you were against all civil relief for damages.

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Father Of Marine Killed In Iraq Wins $2.9 Million Lawsuit Against Protesters

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