Breaking: Father of slain Marine wins case against foul Phelps family
Update 7:09pm Eastern. Legal analysis from Allah. More details on the jury’s additional $6 million in punitive damages for invasion of privacy and $2 million for causing emotional distress, plus a round-up at STACLU.
***
I pointed you last week to the legal case of Albert Synder, who took the foul Phelps family to court over their reprehensible protests of fallen military heroes. Snyder claimed invasion of privacy and emotional harm from the radical haters’ demonstration at his son’s funeral. Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder died in Anbar province in a vehicle accident last year. The verdict is just in from the Baltimore Sun:
Albert Snyder of York, Pa., the father of a Westminster Marine who was killed in Iraq, today won his case in a Baltimore federal court against members of Topeka, Kan.-based Westboro Baptist Church who protested at his son’s funeral last year.
The jury of five women and four men awarded Snyder $2.9 million in compensatory damages. The amount of punitive damages to be awarded has not yet been decided. The jury deliberated for about two hours yesterday and much of today.
Snyder was the first in the nation to attempt to hold members of Westboro Baptist Church legally liable for their shock protests at military funerals after the church protested the military’s inclusion of gays at the funeral of Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder, a 2003 Westminster High School graduate who died March 3, 2006, in a vehicle accident in Anbar province.
In June 2006, Snyder sued the tight-knit fundamentalist Christian church and three of its members individually. The father argued that Westboro’s demonstrations exacerbated his pain and suffering in March 2006 while he mourned the death of his only son.
Specifically, he charged that they violated his privacy, intentionally inflicted emotional harm and engaged in a conspiracy to carry out their activities. The jury decided in Snyder’s favor on every count.
The Synder website has legal documents from the case here. Send him a note of congratulations and thanks here.
The fight’s not over.
Matthew Snyder, of Finksburg, Maryland, died from a non combat-related vehicle accident in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to Combat Service Support Group-1, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, California. Died on March 3, 2006. Matthew was 20 years old.
Matthew graduated from Westminster High School in 2003. After graduation, he enlisted in the Marines on October 14, 2003, and was stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C. In August of 2004, Matthew was assigned to Combat Logistics Batallion-7, Twentynine Palms, Calif. as a generator mechanic.
“He was a hero and he was the love of my life.” – Albert Snyder, Matthew’s Father
The family of Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder, US Marine Corps, has begun this civil lawsuit* against Mr. Phelps and certain members of the so-called Westboro Baptist Church to bring an end to the reign of terror and abuse that they inflicted upon the grieving families of US service members killed in defense of our nation. Using innocent children to deliver their twisted message of hatred and fear, the defendants in this suit have sought to attack the memory of our departed heroes, to strip their loved ones of their dignity, and to use abuse and intimidation as a tool for preventing surviving family members from reaching closure over their loss.
It is the sincere hope of Mr. Al Snyder, Matthew’s father, that this suit will spark similar legal actions against Mr. Phelps wherever he seeks to inflict harm upon the memory of our heroes and their families. If you feel strongly that such actions should be stopped, please consider a donation to help offset the legal expenses of bringing this suit.
*This is a private civil lawsuit that is separate from any actions being pursued by states or the federal government against Mr. Phelps. While those cases involve Government action and potential 1st Amendment issues, this case is distinct. This case simply alleges that one does not have the right to conspire to use lies in order to inflict intentional harm upon persons who are grieving the death of their children.
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- Father of Slain Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder Wins $11 Million Verdict against Westboro Baptist Church Funeral Protesters | Scared Monkeys
- Fred Phelps And Family Go Down HARD — Jury Awards $11M To Father Of Slain Marine
- Michelle Malkin » Fallen Marine’s father speaks; foul Phelps clan to appeal
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Thank God!! There is still some justice left in this country’s judicial system.
Great news!
ACLU screaming “This violates freedom of speech” in 3…2…..1..
Amen to that!
Too damned bad these folks have been allowed to disrupt services and cause more suffering to the bereaved.
OMG! This is WONDERFUL news! It’s a triumph for the right to know that there are some courts we haven’t lost! This is almost as good as the 9th Circus voting against an abortion rights case!
Those people are sick, and I’m glad someone finally stood up to them.
Now, if the rest of us could just manage to do it against the jihadis!!!
btw, that’s wishful thinking….;-)
Sadly, I expect this to be appealed and reversed by some anti-war liberal activist judge.
Screw the ACLU.
Congratulations to Mr.Snyder. May his son rest in peace.
Great news. A win for common decency and respect
As a conservative Christian I applaud this jury’s decision. People like Phelps who “hijack a great religion” to promote their own agenda ought to be held responsible. Now … would this same verdict have been reached if instead of “God hates f*gs” it was “Allah hates “f*gs”? Would the jury have had the courage to side with the plaintiff if the defendants had been Muslim?
OUTSTANDING. The Phelps family are a bunch of trully horrid creatures. It’s hard to keep the hyperbole under control in discussing these people, but I’m so glad that somebody is trying to make them accountable for their insensitivity. At some point, a family member will take actions into their own hands at these protests, if something isn’t done. It’s a tricky walk w/ free speech rights on how to restrict them though. Lasly, despite what Lying Sean Hannity said, this IS NOT a left wing fringe group. They belong to their own sub-human wing.
On October 31st, 2007 at 4:19 pm, BetsyinAmerica said:
Screw the ACLU.
Congratulations to Mr.Snyder. May his son rest in peace.
MEGGA-DITTO’S
This is good news!
These people will probably take it further because they are lawyers as well as pains in the a**. I believe this is the group that Mike G. allowed to come on his radio show for an hour if they would not protest at a fallen soldiers memorial. It worked that time thanks to Mike but,they are devious and calculated. And they won’t go away ,unfortunately.
Thank God is right! This horrific cult needs to be put in its place, once and for all.
God bless the Snyder family.
I think the jury would, yes. The walking on eggshells you allude to seems to be done mostly by political and media elites, average Americans seem to know the score.
#16
Right on!
Yipee!
I have long written about Phelps and his hate-filled, abuse-advocating, vile “church” (which consists mostly of family and not the public at large).
They disgust me. They are not Christian and should not be held as an example of Christians for any reason whatsoever.
Believe me, if Phelps and his cronies ever showed up at the funeral of a fallen family member, I’d probably end up in jail. I’m not a violent person, but I think I’d lose it if they said my loved one’s death was “deserved.”
Also, it’s pertinent to note they celebrate not only the deaths of our troops, but national tragedies like the mine collapses in Virginia and Utah, 9/11, and others.
Disgusting.
What’s rich is the irony of the Phelps family being hoisted on their own petard. One of the main reasons the Phelps mount these contemptible protests is to provoke an illegal response from somebody they can sue. Several of the Phelps family are lawyers. This is how they make their living and support their “church.”
This verdict against them puts their whole legal strategy in disarray and opens them up to further lawsuits. Perhaps a class action is needed here from all the victims of the Phelps’ harassment.
The Phelps could only do this by making a joke of their religion and the law. I have no doubt that the jury was glad to be able to drop the hammer on them. May more judgements against them reduce them to a well-deserved poverty and their church to a lean-to.
I am a “fundamentalist Christian” of the Bob Jones University type.
There is nothing fundamentalist nor Christian about the Phelps coterie. They are a despicable cadre of fools who are an embarrassment to those of us who hold dear to the belief that the Bible is the Word of God.
Congratulations to the Snyders. I hope that the Phelps are forced to pay every dime.
.
#18 EQ see #19!
This is precisely why the patriot riders are there… to separate the family from the freaks. They’re not worth it.
*spits*
Thank God! These crazies need to be stopped, and a compensatory judgement of $2.9 million (not to mention punitive, if any) ought to put a sizable dent in their accounts. These people give Christians a bad name…
This is great!
Mr. Synder, I am sorry you had to lay your only son to rest. I am also sorry that his funeral was disrupted at all, let alone by a group of people who claim to be Christians.
I know that no amount of money can compensate you for your loss. But I am glad that your case was a success.
Your son is a hero! May God Bless and Keep You!
Mr. Synder,
I’m a Marine veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Thank you for taking these bastards to court. These are sick people who dishonor fallen Marines and their country. I have this heart wrenching feeling when I think of the brave Marines of my unit who did not return. Adding to the pain is how these sick people dishonor them. Your son was a brave Marine. I can see the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
Semper Fidelis
Jose
well this proves that there *is* a G*d….
(he just doesn’t believe in the Phelps’ church. %-)
I’d like to see the IRS investigate this “church.”
May Matthew rest in peace. May Mr. Snyder and his family live in peace! God bless ‘em all!
Amen to this verdict!
This is such great news. My husband contributed to the Synder’s over the weekend after reading about this story via the blogs & his web site. We both felt very strongly against this Phelp’s Family’s action to our fallen hero’s, that we wanted to help differ some of the court costs.
What a surprise when on Monday he received a phone call from Mr. Synder personally thanking him for his donation. We couldn’t thank Mr. Synder enough for the sacrifice his son gave for our country. We were both so touched by Mr. Synder even considering to make a personal phone call long distance just to say Thank You.
Reading this is the best news that I’ve heard all day. Thank you Michelle for Posting this. It give us such a warm feeling in our heart.
Reuters called this Marine GAY! Re-read the first sentence of the Reuters article.
http://crotchetyoldbastard.com/blog/2007/10/reuters_is_beyond_incompetent.html
Mr. Snyder: Your son was a Hero, I can not put into works my gratitude to your son for his sacrifice in protecting the lives and freedoms of me, my children, and my grandchildren.
Mr. Phelps and the so-called members of the Westboro Baptist Church:
Can you now see there is a GOD!
If what some christians tell me is “true” and all sins are equal, what is up with the Phelps and homosexuality?
Why the obsession with one alleged sin, and come up with the venom to spout “God hates fags” Is their idea of god so tyrannical, that they believe their god would cause horrible particularized American tragedies just because god hates homosexuals that much.
Why wouldn’t their god destroy Bangkok, or Amsterdam, or San Fran and South Beach? Never mind, I guess I’m trying tto make sense of nonsense. It must be a terrible existance to live your life so filled with hate. I really, really, feel sorry for the kids in the Phelps church. They are missing out on happiness and just general humanity. It’s child abuse, really.
Justice. As a former officer and a current lawyer, I’ve been waiting for someone to have a solid victory against these people. May it be the first of very many. May the Snyders find some peace after this, and may their son’s memory be eternal.
Appauding in agreement EQ.
Great news. Bless the Snyders.
Semper FI
The Left is apoplectic: The Right fighting against a group fighting against gays?
This is outstanding! I hope this is only the beginning of what the Phelps clan will be experienceing in the coming months and years.
These despicable “people” have harmed and tormented good families for far too long without suffering repercussions.
I am glad to hear it. I hope they lose everything they own.
I have never been more proud of the good folks in my home state. All those years as a police officer gave me the faith to believe that this verdict would be for justice.
Thank you citizens of Maryland. Thank you Mr. Snyder. Thank you Patriot Guard Riders and most of all, Thank you Matthew. You are my hero and I love you.
PS. Thanks you Jose and every other veteran. We are forever in your debt.
LCPL Matthew Snyder-
May you rest in eternal peace and may all of us see you soon.
Semper Fi!
GSP
HM1(AW) USN Ret OIF Vet
As much as I loathe Phelps and his crew, I have to ask what exactly did they do that justifies suing them for 2.9 millions dollars? Merely holding up signs doesn’t seem to justify it.
I hope this shuts them up permanently – they have been an embarrassment for years – but I hate to see a precedent set that might turn around and bite us someday.
What a Haloween treat!
Ummm…I meant What a Halloween treat!
Jury Awards Father Nearly $11 Million in Funeral Protesters Case!!
The jury first awarded $2.9 million in compensatory damages. It returned later in the afternoon with its decision to award $6 million in punitive damages for invasion of privacy and $2 million for causing emotional distress to the Marine’s father, Albert Snyder of York, Pa.
AMEN!!
The gift that keeps giving and giving and giving. I’m loving this. $11 million. Way to go.
So I wonder how Al Gore’s buddy is handling his loss tonight….yeah right I am really hoping he and his family of bloodsuckers burns in hell………..YEAH big win.
Good news for a change!
Thank God. The phelps and their ilk make me physically ill. Its about time some basic decency and common sense prevailed
so much for tort reform!
least you forget!!! it was a jury of his peers, (if there is such a thing about these people) that brought back that judgement…….not the court…
Still satisfactory to see that America still has some good judgement about these things.
Justice still gets one right every once in a while.
As for the ACLU and what they’ll surely feel compelled to do… if they thought that having to side with Rush Limbaugh on his medical records was a nightmare come true, I wonder how they’ll feel when Fred Phelps comes asking for help. Then again, I have no love lost for the ACLU. They deserve this future case of collective indigestion.
Hopefully the Snyder’s courage will put an end to this form of disgusting behavior. Cant imagine a more despicable group of so-called religious folks then these scumbags.
I just told my Dad about this nearly $11 million judgment, and he says, “Wonder how much Mr. Snyder would pay to give Phelps a good swift kick in the @ss.”
Semper Fi, Mr. Snyder. May God bless your family, and your son rest with the angels.
TOTALLY COOL!
That is just sooooo sweet. I realize he’ll probably never see a dime of it. But it’s the principle of the thing.
Mr. Snyder has some.. Fred Phelps has none.
This is welcome news.
This “family” has been a boil on the keisters of all of us who live in Kansas. They started in the early ’90’s protesting the funerals of people in the Kansas City area who died of AIDS. They have also set up camp outside various random churches in the Topeka and Kansas City area during church services –they hit ours several years ago. They have camped outside ballet and symphony performances, citing that the performers are all “gay” and “perverts.” They even held up signs at President Reagan’s funeral, claiming that he was “burning in hell.”
There is nothing “church”-like or Baptist about these people. They are a cult, pure and simple.
The Phelps’ family, sadly, worship at the evil twin’s alter.
The sacred and the profane!
The loathsome Phelps family finlly gets what has been coming to them for a long, long time. I live in the midwest, in somewhat close proximity to the Westboro Baptist ‘church’, and am well aquainted with their antics. They are well and truly despised by everyone who is aware of them.
Even if he is (???), why zero-in on that, and then call us bigots??!!!?
There is a group, I believe they are the “FreedomRiders” they will stand vanguard at these funerals. My best advice would be: If you lose a son or daughter, notify these folks….they will keep the slime away from your personal funeral. I am suprised they were not at this function. Maybe I got the name wrong, but I will be back within 5 minutes with the correct group of persons. This way., WE WILL all have the knowledge of who to call to protect this sacrement. Would you all like me to repost the information??
Wow, a victory for common sense and decency. Let’s hope more families come out of the woodwork and sue Phelps and his gang of crazies down into the ground.
I think that the total obsession about gays that has overtaken the Phelps is due to the fact that they themselves are sexual devients. If you took DNA samples of every member of this “church,” I’m sure that you’d find every one has a direct link to “pastor” Phelps. They project their own behavior upon everyone else. If that isn’t indeed the case, I’d be very, very surprised.
On the same note as I’ve already said, their language and illustrations used on their website border on pornographic. The base-level thought processes with Fred Phelps and his “church” could not have come about from a good, nurturing family environment. The delusional disfunctionality we are seeing with this group could have only come about through either systematic abuse or deviant lifestyles. This group should be investigated to find out how they are raising their kids.
I thanks God for this decision.
As an evangelical Southern Baptist, I denounce, reject, condemn everything Phelps and his minions stand for and preach. There is no love of Christ in him.
I would love to take on his (dare I say crazy?) daughters in a theological debate. But I dont think you can reason with a fool.
I saw them on Bill O one night, and Bill asked them if he was going to Hell. They were wild eyed gleeful in their response. Of course you are Bill. In fact everybody is going to Hell except us. Their words, not mine.
It’s sad.
Btw, yohann – it’s true that the only members of Fred’s church are his family.
I read somewhere a long time ago that Fred read in the Bible about God burning “fags” or “fagots” and that what set him off on homosexuals. I’ve done word searches on different versions of scripture and cant find the words. As it it, it’s taken out of context – “fagot” is an old English word for bundle of sticks.
This is what happens when someone cant rightly divide God’s Word.
The Phelps clan is not only a disgrace to the religion they claim to profess, but also a disgrace to humanity. It’s great to see some measure of justice finally come down.
Masterchief giveth, and the Master Chief taketh away…
I don’t think ALL of the 10.9 million will withstand appeal. I suspect the 6 million for “invasion of privacy” will hold (though I dunno, it might), but I would be shocked if the rest was over turned.
Congrats to the family of this Hero.
As Patton said, I’ll not mourn his passing, but instead thank God that men such as he lived.
yohanbiimu post#61…..You beat me to it. I have had the same suspician for a long time. One thing I gotta say is America is a truly tolerant country. If it were anything but that these creatures would have been removed from the scene long ago. One good thing, as a “family” cult their infestation of the general gene pool is thankfully limited.
Victory? Are you all crazy? This is a huge blow to the First Amendment.
If you substitute “military funeral” for “abortion clinic,” many of you would be freaking out.
There is obviously no debate that the Phelps family is crazy and repugnant. But the First Amendment applies to the crazy and repugnant as much as it does to you and I.
This reminds me of one of the worst Supreme Court decisions in recent memory, Hill v. Colorado. Now, I’m pro-choice and all, but this case drives me crazy.
I recommend reading Scalia’s dissent and applying it to this Phelps case. Just because protesters are repugnant doesn’t mean they don’t have rights. The Court dropped the ball on Miller. Hopefully this dreadful Phelps decision will give the Court an opportunity to defend the First Amendment from these ridiculous decisions.
Strike that, reverse it.
And I referred to “Hill v. Colorado” as “Miller.”
Man, I need lunch.
Uhm… I don’t know what planet you live on, but if I saw people holding picket signs outside and abortion clinic calling the people there “Murderers”, I’d go up and have words with them. While I am against abortion, I am fully aware that many people who do go ahead with an abortion have enough on their minds and are emotional enough, without wackos trying to provoke them.
No, none of us would be freaking out. There is no reason to equate the horribly disturbed protests that the Phelps carried out with anything to do with abortion clinics.
Just wrong, wrong, wrong Rusty.
As pgtips said, provoking women who are considering abortion does nothing.
Contrary to what the left and the MSM would have people believe, pro-lifers are not just concerned with the unborn, but their mothers (and everyone from conception to natural death).
Protesters who call women “muderers” and other pejoratives do nothing. Nutters who bomb abortion clinics do nothing and are vile, terrible people.
Showing the women that we care about their mental/emotional and physical health, that we’re willing to help them find financial/medical resources and adoption agencies, and other resources, and showing them that their child is a chlid and not a “lump of cells” is far more effective than being violent…because it’s the truth.
So don’t even equate what the Phelps clan does with the pro-life movement.
It was the Pro-life movement I was thinking of when I asked if they had done anything beyond holding signs. The Pro-Abortion folks have already used racketeering laws to destroy their opponents – I don’t want them to get any other ways to hurt us through this decision (though I suspect that they might find the equation of military funerals and abortions to be difficult to reconcile with the argument that it is “just a tissue blob.”)
Englishqueen01,
morally, the Phelps and the Pro-life movement cannot be equated, but some people might find a legal way to do so…
The Phelps family has the right to say what they wish; nobody is denying them that right. What is at issue here is the time and place at which their speech is presented. Try saying “I have a gun” at an airport and see how free your speech is.
Furthermore, Phelps’s website contained many despicable untruths about the soldier and his family, and this is a source of much of the lawsuit.
You can’t keep a good Marine down. Ever.
I thought I heard on O’Reilly that the founder of this so called church is a registered democrat. That would make so much sense. As to free speech, so many people misunderstand what freedom of speech actually means. It is not some balnket ability to do and say as one wishes. The first amendment was meant to ensure that political and religious speech were protected FROM THE GOVERNMET. Of course, some lib courts, including lib supreme courts, have stretched it out quite a bit, but still, there are many limits on what one can do and say. And a private citizen has every right to sue these scums. Satan often tries to infiltrate the Church, and this is one example. These people should be sued over and over again, keep them so busy and broke that they cannot defile other soldiers’ funerals. They think they can use laws, well, I just hope more and more families use the law to sue them and take every penny they have.
The Phelps should pack up and move to Iran. After all, the Iranian president can assure them – Iran doesn’t have any homosexuals!
This legal smackdown is long overdue.