Something I'm sure we can agree on..

[tony]

How fucked up is this situation? I'm all for the 1st Amendment but there is overstepping the boundary and while I do not know how, the law needs to reflect that.


http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/carroll/bal-protest0329,0,3866909.story

Marine's father ordered to pay Westboro's court costs
Church members had conducted anti-gay protests at the funeral of Marine who died in Iraq

Lawyers for the father of a Marine who died in Iraq and whose funeral was picketed by anti-gay protesters say a court has ordered him to pay the protesters' appeal costs.

On Friday, the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ordered that Albert Snyder of York, Pa., pay costs associated with Fred Phelps' appeal. Phelps is the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church, which conducted protests at the funeral of Snyder's son, Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, in Westminster in 2006.

Lawyers for Snyder say the Court of Appeals has ordered him to pay $16,510.80 to Phelps for costs relating to the appeal, despite the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review the Court of Appeals' decision.

They say that Snyder is also struggling to come up with fees associated with filing a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court.

"We are extremely disappointed," said Sean E. Summers, an attorney for Snyder. He added that the U.S. Supreme Court will likely hear the case during its October term and make a decision in June of next year.

"The Court of Appeals certainly could have waited until the Supreme Court made its decision," Summers added. "There was no hardship presented by Phelps."

Summers said there is no timetable for when the costs must be paid, but if his client doesn't have the money when Phelps requests payment the matter would go into collections. Snyder could lose his property or his wages, Summers said.

Summers added that if Snyder pays Phelps' court costs and then receives a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court, "imagine him trying to get money back from Phelps."

The high court agreed earlier this month to consider whether the protesters' message is protected by the First Amendment or limited by the competing privacy and religious rights of the mourners.
Copyright © 2010, The Baltimore Sun

[TSiFTW]

I would have to read up on the whole story. Just the part mentioned here makes no sense. As for my stance on the 1st Amendment, there should be NO exceptions. You say what you want where you want to whom you want to, if your willing to pay for the repercussions from the said person/persons you are speaking to.

[TSiFTW]

What I mean by makes no sense is I'm sure there is way more to the story than they are actually reporting, so I'm sure there is some reasoning to what they are trying to do. They just aren't giving all the info. At first glance it seems ridiculous, but the courts didn't order it for no reason.

[BanginJimmy]

Plain and simply, the First Amendment was not meant as a right to purposely violate a private citizens right to privacy. By your reasoning, it should be OK for me to stand on the White House lawn and tell the secret service I am going to kill the President and the SS should be able to do nothing about it.


On a side note, if I was Snyder, I would have done my best to beat every man, woman and child, no matter the age, so bad DNA couldnt identify them.

[SlowEG9]

im confused...what was being appealed?

[BanginJimmy]

article didnt say. Original court probably said the protesters had the right to protest.


Anyone need more proof of why religion is dangerous to society?

[tony]

Maybe some clarification here:


Snyder funeral protest case will go to Supreme Court
Family of Westminster Marine had sued picketers

By David G. Savage and Joe Burris
Tribune Newspapers

Posted 3/14/10

A protest that began near St. John's Catholic Church in Westminster in 2006 will wind up next fall on the doorstep of the U.S. Supreme Court.
On March 8, the Supreme Court agreed that it will take on the case pressed by the father of the late U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder of Westminster.
Justices will hear arguments in the case this fall.
Albert Snyder had sued the leader of a small band of protesters who picketed near his son's funeral with signs that said, among other things, "Thank God for dead soldiers."
The Supreme Court's acceptance of the case is the latest twist in a legal battle that arose out of the funeral of Matthew Snyder, a Westminster High School graduate who died in Iraq in March 2006.
Matthew Snyder was 20 years old and had been in the war zone for less than a month when he was killed in a vehicle accident in Anbar province.
Albert Snyder sued Fred Phelps, founder of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., who has traveled the country with a group of followers, leading protests at funerals for U.S. soldiers and others.
A federal jury in Baltimore awarded $11 million to Albert Snyder in 2007.
That award was later reduced to $5 million, but then, in September 2009, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the award on free-speech grounds.
The jury awarded damages to the Snyder family, saying the funeral protests invaded its privacy and intentionally inflicted emotional distress.
"Notwithstanding the distasteful and repugnant nature of the words being challenged in these proceedings, we are constrained to conclude that the defendants' signs are constitutionally protected," the court said.
The family appealed to the Supreme Court, saying the protests tarnished Snyder's funeral.
"Matthew deserved better. A civilized society deserved better," family members said at the time.
The court announced this week it had voted to hear the appeal — and rule on whether the right to free speech includes the right to intrude upon a solemn ceremony.
Sean E. Summers, an attorney for the Snyders, said while Phelps has argued he was exercising its constitutionally protected freedom of speech, the Snyder family says the protests violated its First Amendment rights to peacefully assemble and practice its faith.
"We're saying that they didn't have a freedom-of-speech right to disrupt a funeral," Summers said.
He added, "Mr. Snyder was at his own church, and the Phelps family came there to disrupt" the funeral.
Albert Snyder, who now lives in York, Pa., said the ordeal has changed his easy-going manner.
"I'm a different person after this experience," he said. "I'll speak up and not let people walk over me."
The Snyder funeral is not the only time Westboro has interacted with Carroll County. In 2008, Phelps and the church said they would create a similar protest at the funeral of two teens who died in a car accident in Finksburg.
At the time, Westboro Baptist Church claimed that tragedy had struck Maryland, "because Maryland is persecuting WBC."
No protesters showed at that funeral.

[BanginJimmy]

We are still missing a piece of this puzzle. Why is Snyder liable for the costs of the appeal?

[TSiFTW]

We are still missing a piece of this puzzle. Why is Snyder liable for the costs of the appeal?

That's what I was trying to figure out. I'm sure something got left out somewhere.

[SlowEG9]

I'm all about free speech but is that not borderline harassment for the assholes protesting at soldiers funerals?

[StreetHazard]

article didnt say. Original court probably said the protesters had the right to protest.


Anyone need more proof of why religion is dangerous to society?

I don't, this is just another nail

[tony]

That's what I was trying to figure out. I'm sure something got left out somewhere.

The Supreme court overturned the ruling and made Snyder liable for the cost because the ruling infringed on the church's 1st amendment rights.

[Total_Blender]

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/1048/wswed04cm9.jpg

Phelps is the one holding the "God Hates The USA" sign. I am usually for 1st amendment rights and any protective measures therof, but I don't think you should be able to protest at a cemetery or funeral. Invading someone's space like that when they are grieving is just such bad taste.

[BanginJimmy]

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/1048/wswed04cm9.jpg

Phelps is the one holding the "God Hates The USA" sign. I am usually for 1st amendment rights and any protective measures therof, but I don't think you should be able to protest at a cemetery or funeral. Invading someone's space like that when they are grieving is just such bad taste.


If people like that ever showed up to a funeral I was attending, DNA wouldnt even be able to identify them after the beating.