Church ordered to pay $10.9 million for funeral protest. I am from Kansas, and all I can say is this. It is about damn time.
The church and three of its leaders — the Rev. Fred Phelps and his two daughters, Shirley Phelps-Roper and Rebecca Phelps-Davis, 46 — were found liable for invasion of privacy and intent to inflict emotional distress.
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.”
I remember one time when Phelps ran for public office. Someone said they were scared of him and that he was running for office. My response was that I was not as nearly as afraid of Phelps as I was of those who voted for him.
And we can throw verbal stones at President Bush. But, our soldiers deserve our utmost respect. I just hope we might see an end to the protest at the funerals of those fallen soldiers.
Grant,
I'm inclined to agree, except then I remember the First Amendment.
I agree. How are their actions helpful? As much as I disagree with the war, these men and women are putting their lives on the line because our president tells them to and we should be grateful that they are willing to do that for us, whether their efforts are working or not. As for the free speech, okay, protect their right to say it but do they have to say it there? I completely agree with the court's decision to find them liable for intent to inflict emotional distress.
Hear, hear. Soldiers are not responsible for wars; soldiers fight them, and die in them. They deserve our respect. The protestors do not help their cause by actions such as these.
Amen! Preach on! The Constitution is not a license to inflict heart ache and distress on others, especially when its all due to a political opinion!
So by Mr. Bennett's thinking, anyone can picket any event regardless of what the subject is, and there is no such thing as a standard of decency. I assume any attorney understands there are limits to the 1st Amendment. The founding fathers or anyone who was remotely affiliated with the creation of this country did not intend for the first Amendment to protect these losers. Con Law 101.
Just for the record, the Phelps family church has absolutely nothing to do with any anti-war position. They are a radical Biblical fundamentalist, homophobic group, which has used the method of protesting at the funerals of fallen service personnel to attract the maximum attention to their hate-filled doctrines.