The death of Albert Snyder’s son Matthew, who was killed in Iraq in 2006, made headlines because anti-gay protesters picketed the funeral. Currently, the Supreme Court is considering whether the protesters’ message is protected by the free speech amendment.
Now, an Appeals Court has ordered Mr. Snyder to pay nearly $16,000 to Fred Phelps, the head of the church which conducted the protests.
The Associated Press reports the two page decision supplied by Snyder’s attorney offered no details on how the court came to its decision and the Huffington Post reports that he is seeking donations to pay the fees.
Attorney Sean Summers told the Baltimore Sun that if his client doesn’t have the money when Phelps collects payment, the matter would go into collections. Snyder could lose his property or wages. He also pointed out that the Appeals Court could have waited until the Supreme Court made its decision.
Did an appeals court cross the line by ordering the father of a fallen Marine to pay the legal fees racked up by a group which protested at his son’s funeral?
Leave a Comment:
Unfortunately, Albert Snyder’s son Matthew has passed and funerals are soulfully solely for the purpose of people to pay their respects and reflect upon his life while here on Mother EARTH. (THIS PROTEST TIMING WAS DISRESPECTFUL AS WELL AS INAPPROPRIATE.) Matthew's sexuality is irrelevant as well as after the fact. GOD BLESS HIS HEART AND SOUL & MAY HE REST IN PEACE . . .
The son was not gay. This "Christian" group shows up at every military funeral it can get to. Why? It's the United States that this religious group hates. Specifically, they have great anger that homosexuals are not rounded up and put to death.
This is insane. No. There is something wrong with how this is being reported or how I am reading it. What the Hell is going on here? His son died as a result of military service and someone is sending his father a bill for expenses of the people protesting at the funeral? No I don't believe it, much less that it would hold up in court. Something's wrong here and it needs more explication.
I believe detail must be missing in that story. It must have been a military funeral selected by the family. To choose to have the military host the funeral than turn around and protest an optional arrangement don't make sense. Need Additional detail to weigh in on this Crossing The Line Question.
The "church" that protested the funeral has been for years showing up at service men's funerals and yelling vial things and having hate filled signs accusing any and all of being gay and condemning to hell due to the militarises Don't ask Don't tell policy. Before veterans groups started acting as kind of a human shield between these idiots and the families they would get right in the faces of the grieving families. Is that enough historical detail?
Tamron Rocks on (NBC) Today, I love it, I hope she is permenantly assigned, not taking anything away from MSNBC!
Tamron sighting She is working at the (NBC) Today Show all week. She is filling in for Ann at the news desk 7-9 ET and co-hosting the 9am ET hour, but is still on MSNBC at 2ET!
Whatever damage(s) done by protesters should be paid by the same....!!!
How can Mr. Snyder be held responsible 4 something he had no control over...!!!
Why was'nt protester's held liable 4 the damage they caused...?
Weather we like it or not, if you actually read the Bible, it clearly dispises homosexuals, and God commands believers to stone them to death! All while the Bible is,at least, contemtuous towards women, and homoerotic in the same breath! I am proud that I do not understand religious beliefs,or religious racism,or care too!Jesus, your all white messiah, does not preach tolerance of women or homosexuals. If you don't agree with all the Bibles preachings, your really not religious at all,and your still on the side of these old men, who wear costumes, and want to preach their sexual morality to our children, and you surrender without even puting up a fight!
I know people are constantly outraged by the WBC but i saw this video of somebody doing the right thing in regards to them. take a look.
http://chappedlipsandchiclets.tumblr.com/post/472628705/university-of-illinois-student-beats-the-westboro
How on earth is hate speech protected by the Constitution?
Define "Hate Speech". Your definition and mine may not agree. Are we banning what you don't like or what I don't like?
If you are not yelling "Fire" when there is no fire in a crowded theater or engaging in destroying some innocent private persons reputation with known lies, nobody has to like what you say or not find it offensive.
If you find something to be offensive hate speech, feel free to say so, anywhere and anyhow you want to, you may convince people you are right. Or not.
This court decision is yet another example of how the courts are getting out of control. Why isn't MSNBC publishing the judges name? People should be aware of this judge, and there should be some investigation into his past rulings to see if there is a pattern of ruling in favor of fringe religious groups.
If that judge is allowing his own religious beliefs to interfere with his rulings, he should be removed.
The first commandment protects us from the GOVERNMENT, not from the master of ceremonies at a private event. I'd be arrested if I disrupted your gathering right now at MSNBC. Though it's being broadcast, it's still your private party. Funerals are private. You have no first amendment right there. You can be ejected and arrested for disturbing the peace. There has never been a more clear example of disturbing the peace here. They arrested Skip Gates on his porch for supposedly yelling. The church has no right to break the law in this way.
lets be serious, this isnt REALLY a church.
Sentinel3D... you are right. Freedom of speech is NOT freedom to act in a malicious, hateful manner. To inflict harm (verbally) on others, is not a protected freedom in our constitution.
Also, why was this group allowed within 30 feet of this private event?
Such protests could (and should) be allowed, but no closer than say 1 mile of the funeral or route to the burial site.
Such words on signs should be allowed to be challenged in court. Those posting such signs MUST be required to explain the WHY. If they have no reasonable bearing on this person then damages should be awarded for false, slanderous words. Period.
The appeals court got it wrong. Freedom of speech should NOT allow for such MALICIOUS, HORRIBLE speech.
This family has a right to privacy, dignity, etc., ESPECIALLY at such a time of loss, and ESPECIALLY when it involves a fallen soldier.
Large civil damages MUST be awarded here. I would curb such outrageous practices, and punish those who willingly cross the line.
"Freedom of speech should NOT allow for such MALICIOUS, HORRIBLE speech"
Publicly? Your opinion. I may agree with you. But what you and I think has nothing to do with what the Constitution says and free speech apples to "HORRIBLE" speech. Speech everyone finds OK needs no protection.
Damn, what happened to basic Civics classes, do they still teach them?
Yes to freedom of speech and freedom of religion; that said, surely, showing up at a funeral, where deep emotions are already bared raw, must, somehow, be considered a form of torture.
Much like the wicked driver who purposely stops in front of another moving car in order to cause a collision..., this "religious" group purposely abuses the law for financial gain.
They use religious texts to support their "cause," but, money is their true motive in showing up at these military funerals.
Tamy, will you marry me? Just kidding, but how could anyone (Eddie's Love!) have missed those anarchist freaks and the news coverage they get? Seems that if you wanted to comment about an issue, you might perhaps google it and maybe try to learn what the detals are, right? I mean, what the...?
I just read a court decision that states that hate speech designed to provoke violence is not protected under the Constituton. Nazis can march through a Jewish neighborhood, but they can't scream racial comments at the people assembled to protest them.
I sure as hell hope the Supreme Court upholds that ruling. Recent decisions make me wonder.
Thank you, and I agree that the Supreme Court needs to do is reverse the appeals court ruling.
I am wanting to understand just why Mr. Snyder doesn't have just as much right not to hear the crap that these people were spewing as they have the right to spit it out of their faces. Innocent people always seem to have less rights than the people with malice in their hearts. Sometimes justice is just wrong!
These "people" have gone far beyond "over the line". They are the most vile, filthy, disgusting cockroach dung on the planet and I pray that they burn in hell. As a vet, the wife of a Marine combat vet and the mother of an Afghan vet, I urge all military families to contribute to Mr. Snyder's website and all decent members of the Baptist Church to shun these dirtbags.