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rulemylife -> RE: The Westboro Baptist church in Colorado (4/24/2010 1:11:21 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Musicmystery One change to U.S. law I'd like to see is the suer responsible for ALL court costs, both sides, in the event of a loss in a civil suit. Yes, I can see problems with that. But I think the problems from frivolous and nuisance suits exceed them. Here is one of the problems with that: Lawsuit against Westboro Baptist Church On March 10, 2006, WBC picketed the funeral of Marine Lance Corporal Matthew A. Snyder, who died in combat in Iraq on March 3, 2006. On June 5, 2006, the Snyder family sued Fred Phelps, WBC, and unnamed others for defamation, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. On October 31, 2007, WBC, Fred Phelps and his two daughters, Shirley Phelps-Roper and Rebekah Phelps-Davis, were found liable for invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress. A federal jury awarded Snyder's father $2.9 million in compensatory damages, then later added a decision to award $6 million in punitive damages for invasion of privacy and an additional $2 million for causing emotional distress (A total of $10. 9 million). The organization said it wouldn't change its message because of the verdict. ........On February 4, 2008, Bennett upheld the ruling but reduced the punitive damages from $8 million to $2.1 million. The total judgment then stood at $5 million. Court liens were ordered on church buildings and Phelps' law office in an attempt to ensure that the damages were paid. ........An appeal by WBC was heard on September 24, 2009. The federal appeals court ruled in favor of Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church, stating that their picket near the funeral of LCpl Matthew A. Snyder is protected speech and did not violate the privacy of the service member's family, reversing the lower court's $5 million judgment. On March 30, 2010, the federal appeals court ordered Albert Snyder to pay the court costs for the Westboro Baptist Church, an amount totaling $16,510. Political commentator Bill O'Reilly agreed on March 30th to cover the costs, pending appeal. A writ of certiorari was granted on an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, so the case will come up for review in the court's next term in October 2010. (Fred Phelps - Wikipedia)
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