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The
Topeka Capital-Journal
Phelpses
found liable for $10.9 million
Spokeswoman says
appeal likely to happen
By James Carlson,
cjonline.com from the Web, November 1, 2007
Topeka, KS -- The father of a
fallen Marine won a nearly $11 million verdict Wednesday in Baltimore against
the Westboro Baptist Church, a decision seen as a first against the Topeka group
who pickets soldiers' funerals around the country.
Albert Snyder, of York, Pa., sued the church for damages after members
demonstrated at the 2006 funeral of his son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder.
The church and three of its leaders — the Rev. Fred Phelps and two of his
daughters, Shirley Phelps-Roper and Rebekah Phelps-Davis, 46 — were found liable
in U.S. District Court on Wednesday for invasion of privacy and intentional
infliction of emotional distress.
The jury awarded $2.9 million in compensatory damages and $8 million in punitive
damages — $6 million for invasion of privacy and $2 million for emotional
distress.
"The going price for the First Amendment is apparently $10.9 million," said
church spokeswoman Margie J. Phelps when reached by phone outside the Baltimore
courtroom. Phelps is another daughter of Fred Phelps.
Westboro Baptist Church members routinely picket funerals of military personnel
killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, carrying signs such as "Thank God for dead
soldiers" and "God hates fags." They contend God is punishing the United
States for its support of homosexuals.
Phelps said they would "probably" appeal the decision. Neither Snyder nor
his attorneys were available for comment Wednesday.
Local law professors said the case is unprecedented.
"It could go either way," Washburn law professor Michael Kaye said of any
potential appeals.
The murky legal waters leave unknown what higher courts might do, experts said,
but some hinted that the church had a strong case for appeal.
Civil side
Doug Linder, a constitutional law professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas
City, said there were two questions surrounding the case: the civil case
implications and the First Amendment right issues.
Linder said when civil juries are deciding if speech intentionally inflicted
distress, they look at the outrageousness of the speech and the intention behind
the speakers.
"(Westboro Baptist's) speech is probably more to draw attention to their
message, not to inflict emotional distress," Linder said.
He said the case could swing in higher court on how in-your-face they were with
the message.
Kaye said courts have consistently held that citizens have an absolute right to
a belief, but he said there is a difference between expression of belief and
conduct.
"You can't use freedom of speech to engage in conduct that unduly infringes on
the rights of others, and that's where the rubber meets the road in this case,"
Kaye said.
Free speech
Even if this case met the requirements for intentional infliction of emotional
distress, said University of Kansas constitutional law professor Richard Levy,
the bigger issue is whether that would violate the First Amendment.
"The courts are going to have to decide whether the states' interest in
protecting the emotional well-being of the family in the context of a funeral
outweighs the First Amendment interest of the speaker," Levy said.
Kaye questioned, too, the wisdom of a decision that could chill free speech.
"Some of the things the Phelpses do provoke controversy and anger, but free
speech does that," he said.
Levy said there are instances where speech can be regulated, such as in libel or
slander cases, but he said those usually involve a specific person whose
reputation has been damaged. Levy said the case against the Phelpses was
more vague because their signs didn't single out Matthew Snyder. According
to court documents, the church's Web site did later mention the Marine's name,
saying his parents taught Snyder to "support the largest pedophile machine in
the history of the entire world, the Roman Catholic monstrosity."
Margie Phelps said Wednesday that the U.S. Supreme Court has always said you
can't regulate speech based on its content.
"(The jury) decided the entire case based on content," she said. They
decided based on "pure passion, pure rage, and it had nothing to do with the
law, nothing to do with the facts."
Financial records
Before the jury began deliberating the size of punitive damages, U.S. District
Judge Richard Bennett noted the size of the compensatory award "far exceeds the
net worth of the defendants," according to financial statements filed with the
court.
Defense attorney Jonathan Katz reminded jurors that punitive damages are
designed to deter future conduct, but not bankrupt or financially destroy.
Katz said the assets of the church, which has about 75 members and is funded by
tithing, and the three defendants are less than $1 million, and the compensatory
award is about three times the defendants' net worth.
Joy on some fronts
Topeka Mayor Bill Bunten applauded the jury's decision.
"I think there will be a lot of smiling people in Topeka tonight who will be
pleased with the verdict," Bunten said. "For far too long, this group has
been an embarrassment to Topekans."
Bunten said Topeka residents have never approved of Westboro Baptist Church's
message or its picketing.
Members of the church have conducted anti-homosexual protests since 1991 and
hundreds of pickets at soldiers' funerals in the past two years, according to
Margie Phelps.
Phelps said she was thankful for the jury's verdict, because it was the ultimate
manifestation of the country "throwing down on God." She said if people
think Wednesday's court action will stop the church from its protests, they are
wrong.
"We have a duty, and we are going to faithfully fulfill it," she said.
Capital-Journal staff writer Tim Hrenchir and The Associated
Press contributed to this report. James Carlson can be reached at (785)
295-1186 or james.carlson@cjonline.com.
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