Westboro Ordered to Pay 11.9 Million

[Mitch]

I hope more people start suing them.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/10/31/funeral.protests.ap/index.html

[fuller]

Awesome. Fuck these lowlifes

[ansthticparade]

Awesome. Fuck these lowlifes

Agreed.

[gavinseymor]

This is one of the worst things i've ever seen. Its not liberal its not conservative. Its plain evil. This my friends it what happens when free speech goes to far.

[1Roth4]

this people frustrate me more than anything.

this is good to see someone took a stand on these douchebags

[Mercy Medical]

It's great that they got fined, but $10.9 million is a little out of control.

[ghostyouare]

They completely disgust me but this is ridiculous.

[I<3JohnJameson]

This is one of those things that causes mixed feelings. I am glad to see them get sued and lose and have to pay an insane amount of money out which will severly hurt their ability to spread their message of hate. Yet, it has always been a slippery slope when people are punished for expressing their views, no matter how insane and ignorant they are. I hope the whole organization colapses and the brainwashed followers smarten up but I just hope this doesn't lead to protesters in the future being sued for expressing their views.

[Ambulance X]

A victory over the absurdity of religion.

[chris1152]

Wow. That's a lot of money.

[chris1152]

A victory over the absurdity of religion.

I'm confused as to the meaning of your post.

[Mercy Medical]

A victory over the absurdity of religion.
You can't associate all religions or people who practice a religion with this retarded group...

[chris1152]

You can't associate all religions or people who practice a religion with this retarded group...

That's what I thought he meant.

[recall reality]

These people are lunatics. the group "pickets military funerals in the belief that the war in Iraq is a punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality"... it is just beyond me. How about the things that... you know... actual transpired. Nope, they'll just jump to conclusions for no reason other than to back up their hatefulness.

That being said, I'm not sure how I feel about that verdict. I think their argument that it was a public place and they were exercising their freedom of speech is fairly valid. I think we sue too much, but protesting this guys dead son's funeral, one of the most traumatic experiences for a parent, steps beyond reasonable bounds. I think they deserve punishment for doing such sick things, still... 11.9 million is ridiculous.

but then again, maybe God is punishing them for 11.9 million because of their hate. ha

[Ambulance X]

You can't associate all religions or people who practice a religion with this retarded group...

Obviously not, but but it is a nice step towards further banishing religious viewpoints from the public sphere.

Religion - an activity for consenting adults in private.

[chris1152]

That being said, I'm not sure how I feel about that verdict. I think their argument that it was a public place and they were exercising their freedom of speech is fairly valid. I think we sue too much, but protesting this guys dead son's funeral, one of the most traumatic experiences for a parent, steps beyond reasonable bounds. I think they deserve punishment for doing such sick things, still... 11.9 million is ridiculous.



Agreed. Sadly enough, I think Phelps is right. It won't take them too long to get the whole thing appealed and get them off the hook, or at least to get the amount lowered.

[Ambulance X]

These people are lunatics. the group "pickets military funerals in the belief that the war in Iraq is a punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality"... it is just beyond me. How about the things that... you know... actual transpired. Nope, they'll just jump to conclusions for no reason other than to back up their hatefulness.

That being said, I'm not sure how I feel about that verdict. I think their argument that it was a public place and they were exercising their freedom of speech is fairly valid. I think we sue too much, but protesting this guys dead son's funeral, one of the most traumatic experiences for a parent, steps beyond reasonable bounds. I think they deserve punishment for doing such sick things, still... 11.9 million is ridiculous.

but then again, maybe God is punishing them for 11.9 million because of their hate. ha

Their viewpoints are no more crazy than believing that zombie jesus ascended into heaven, and that an invisible sky daddy can read your thoughts.

[deadstar]

This is nice to see. These people who protest deserve to be locked up.

[feigningapology]

Fred Phelps was on CNN or one of the cable news channels around 1-2am PST last night and it was just laughable what he was trying to say. I think the 11.9 million is a little excessive in that the group's net assets worth was under one million and were already trying to appeal it. Any pre law or law kids in here know if an appeal has more weight if the monetary punishment is egregiously excessive and makes a previous ruling more likely to be overturned by the appellate courts?

[and we whisper]

There's this organization of bikers who go to some military funerals to riot the protestors away. Or prevent any from coming.

[SubrosaSeductiv]

There's this organization of bikers who go to some military funerals to riot the protestors away. Or prevent any from coming.

Hell's Angels 4tw.

Irony?

[Nametekken]

Hell's Angels 4tw.

Irony?


wrong... it is the patriot guard riders that go to the funerals to block out the westboro lunatics.

[SubrosaSeductiv]

wrong... it is the patriot guard riders that go to the funerals to block out the westboro lunatics.


Oh. I didn't know exactly who it was. I was just saying it would be ironic if it were the Hell's Angels.

[Nametekken]

Oh. I didn't know exactly who it was. I was just saying it would be ironic if it were the Hell's Angels.


ah gotcha. it would be ironic lol.

[xvszero]

Obviously not, but but it is a nice step towards further banishing religious viewpoints from the public sphere.

Religion - an activity for consenting adults in private.

So should we ban everything that could be considered a viewpoint on anything in public then?

Religious expression should NEVER be banned in public, though I'm fine with regulations, such as for instance... no protesting funerals.