Federal Government Rules Against Phelps. (yay!)

While I advocate the right to free speech, I also believe people have the right to privacy. on occasion said privacy should be extended to public areas like churches, hospitals or funeral homes/graveyards. It is nice to see that this group who has a long record of pushing the limits and boundaries of free speech is facing the fire for their hate rhetoric. Now if only we could somehow find a way to bring the Phelps family up on charges for the incitement of Hate Crimes, through their endorsement of violent upheaval of the homosexual community.

I for one am glad to see this father was pissed off enough to do something about it.

He deserves every penny he gets; if he ever even sees a dime.

(CNN) -- A federal jury in Baltimore, Maryland, Wednesday awarded $10.9 million to a father of a Marine whose funeral was picketed by members of a fundamentalist church carrying signs blaming soldiers' deaths on America's tolerance of homosexuals.
The family of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder -- who was killed in a vehicle accident in Iraq's Anbar province in 2006 -- sued the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, and its leaders for defamation, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Church members showed up at Snyder's funeral chanting derogatory slogans and holding picket signs with messages including "God Hates Fags."

They've picketed the funerals of dozens of troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, claiming that God is punishing the United States because of its tolerance for homosexuality.

Al Snyder, father of the slain Marine, said he considered filing the lawsuit for a long time before going forward and that he hoped the judgment would make it harder for the church to continue such protests.

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I am surprised by or government on a daily basis. Todays is a good surprise!