November 1, 200718 yr Father wins millions from war funeral picketers Anti-gay church protested at ceremony for man?s son, a fallen Iraq Marine BALTIMORE - A grieving father won a nearly $11 million verdict Wednesday against a fundamentalist Kansas church that pickets military funerals out of a belief that the war in Iraq is a punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality. Albert Snyder of York, Pa., sued the Westboro Baptist Church for unspecified damages after members demonstrated at the March 2006 funeral of his son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq. The jury first awarded $2.9 million in compensatory damages. It returned in the afternoon with its decision to award $6 million in punitive damages for invasion of privacy and $2 million for causing emotional distress. Story link Associated Press updated 1 hour, 4 minutes ago
November 1, 200718 yr I was glad to hear this. Those protesters made me want to throw up a few years back.
November 1, 200718 yr Good. It's radical Christians like this that give a bad name to the rest of us.
November 1, 200718 yr Good. It's radical Christians like this that give a bad name to the rest of us. They aren't Christians. They may claim to be, but they are not.
November 1, 200718 yr Good. It's radical Christians like this that give a bad name to the rest of us. They aren't Christians. They may claim to be, but they are not. That's the point!
November 1, 200718 yr Good. It's radical Christians like this that give a bad name to the rest of us. They aren't Christians. They may claim to be, but they are not. :thumbup They're probably going to have to jack up their tithes.
November 1, 200718 yr Good. It's radical Christians like this that give a bad name to the rest of us. +1
November 1, 200718 yr While I'm happy they are having to pay this guy, as I think it's sick what they do, I don't know how I feel about the father making 11 million dollars off of it.
November 1, 200718 yr Author While I'm happy they are having to pay this guy, as I think it's sick what they do, I don't know how I feel about the father making 11 million dollars off of it. What is the loss of a son worth? What price can you put on grief? The point is that they chose to make this horrific protest & scene at a funeral, which (in my opinion) is a private event. And the family is at their most vulnerable.
November 1, 200718 yr I agree that it's an awful thing to do, it just makes me feel slightly uncomfortable for some reason.
November 1, 200718 yr I agree that it's an awful thing to do, it just makes me feel slightly uncomfortable for some reason. Yeah, my g/f says the same things about the Goldmans wanting OJ's money and property.
November 1, 200718 yr I am not Christian, by no means religious, and don't support this type of behavior, but I think damages like that are obscene. I'd like to hear more details about the case, and how they came to the conclusion to reward such high damages.
November 1, 200718 yr I guess that's it. It just makes me feel weird knowing that people are profiting from their greif and loss.
November 1, 200718 yr Good. It's radical Christians like this that give a bad name to the rest of us. They aren't Christians. They may claim to be, but they are not. Exactly and someday they will burn in hell
November 1, 200718 yr keep in mind a way this church makes money is by baiting people at the protests and taking advantage of their grief to get them to do something dumb (like attack a protester) and then they sue the person who attacked them (often a family member of a dead serviceman)
November 1, 200718 yr I say he's suing them for such a large amount of money to discourage them from doing this sh*t again.
November 1, 200718 yr I'm not questioning him, it just makes me feel weird. we also don't know if he's gonna give the money to charity or something. but i'm with you, it seems weird to profit of someone's death....money should be the last thing on his mind. I bet he gives a lot to charity.
November 1, 200718 yr Good. It's radical Christians like this that give a bad name to the rest of us. They aren't Christians. They may claim to be, but they are not. True. I've had to put up with some crap trying to bring in kids on our Sunday School bus because some people around here thought I was affiliated with that because I go to a Baptist Church. Seriously this is a load of crap and the dude that came up with that stupid theory about the war and homosexuality oughtta sue his brain for non-support.
November 2, 200718 yr pretty interesting case of free speech though. The damages are awfully high. With any luck that amount of $$ will put that "church" out of business.
November 2, 200718 yr I say he's suing them for such a large amount of money to discourage them from doing this sh*t again. He said "unspecified damages". He didn't ask for $10.9M, the jury just decided to give it to him.
November 3, 200718 yr Interesting that this was in Maryland. The invasion of privacy award will likely be overturned, IMO, because they were in a public place and he probably had no expectation of privacy outside the province of his funeral. The intentional infliction of emotional distress is interesting. Most people think this is the monument of frivilous lawsuits. But I think this is actionable here. It is Baltimore, so it is easier to get jury verdicts. But this probably would have flew anywhere. Good for the dad. Don't expect him to keep all the money though on appeal.
November 3, 200718 yr Interesting that this was in Maryland. The invasion of privacy award will likely be overturned, IMO, because they were in a public place and he probably had no expectation of privacy outside the province of his funeral. Chances are good that, if they even consider this, they will be found to have invaded the province of his funeral.
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