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Jury Awards Father Nearly $11 Million in Funeral Protesters Case »
Posted by: postaphis 2 years, 2 months agoThe father of a fallen Marine was awarded nearly $11 million Wednesday in damages by a jury that found leaders of a fundamentalist church had invaded the family's privacy and inflicted emotional distress when they picketed the Marine's funeral.
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Comments: 199
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ranchhandComment has been removed: Retracted by user
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abntv
Oct. 31, 2007, 6:45 p.m.This is great news...now there is a case on the books..the other families need to follow this lead.
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AlphaGnosisComment has been removed: Hard Banned
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BronxBomber
Oct. 31, 2007, 8:12 p.m.OH MAN! 11 million! That's a lot of dead presidents! He certainly deserved that for the BS he went through!
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Itachirumon
Oct. 31, 2007, 8:21 p.m.I still pity this poor man...because this is far from over, Phelps will appeal several times...watch the report on CNN when they have both the father by remote video and phelps on the phone (seperately of course, thank God) Phelps wouldn't let anyone else speak, the guy had to talk over his head just to be heard
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anioklyComment has been removed: Spammer
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anioklyComment has been removed: Spammer
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Endoscopy
Oct. 31, 2007, 9:11 p.m.Sock it to them. This is definitely not Christian behavior. This kind of thing should never take place at a funeral.
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canadianrancher57
Oct. 31, 2007, 9:24 p.m.How about some humor, I think this judgement deserves an AMEN. I wonder if churches carry insurance for things like this because if they don't the collection plate is sure going to get passed around alot.
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TheAttacks
Oct. 31, 2007, 11:04 p.m.Good for them! I hope every single family whose funeral they attend sues their pants off!
On another note, my step-father just recently retired from the Marines, and I would have to say I wouldn't be able to keep a civil mind if they showed up to his funeral. . . it would be ugly.
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nostalgia
Nov. 1, 2007, 6:02 a.m."Before the jury began deliberating the size of punitive damages, U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett noted the size of the compensatory award "far exceeds the net worth of the defendants," according to financial statements filed with the court."
"Defense lawyer Jonathan Katz reminded jurors that punitive damages are designed to deter future conduct, but not bankrupt or financially destroy."
Looks like the jury ignored the defense lawyer - GOOD FOR THEM!
It's time someone stood up to these bullies
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Commodore1
Nov. 1, 2007, 8:07 a.m.ROTFLMFAO! I love it! Good justice. It would have been better if it was $100MM followed by the gas chamber. Those sorry iceholes deserve every bit of it and more. Hey, I volunteer for the firing squad.
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jonmaverick
Nov. 1, 2007, 9:04 a.m.This is the part where the sub-human members of the Westboro Baptist Ch__ch discover that God hates broke people.
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aceofspades1
Nov. 1, 2007, 9:41 a.m.Big money judgements have worked in the past against bigots like these- when the criminal law doesn't get them -the pocket book does - remember the suit against the KKK - I got a laugh when there meeting hall had to be auctioned or the suit against that Nazi - he is't doing much rabble-rousing now.
Almost forgot - OJ -justice will out
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Bruedaddy
Nov. 1, 2007, 10:24 a.m.The nerve of these people. It just goes to show the level of stupidity of people in general.
They don't espouse ANY of the virtues of Jesus. They are Haters.
If they showed up at the funeral of my loved one and did that I know I would be spending the night in jail.
I would beat the sensless - EVERY one.
Dammit they make me ANGRY.....
O.K...trying to calm down....
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Bruedaddy
Nov. 1, 2007, 10:38 a.m.Here's the really sad part.....
They will appeal and probably win.
It probably is covered under the first ammendment.
I CERTAINLY DON'T AGGREE and AM NOT DEFENDING THESE JERKS.....
But, the law is the law......
I'd still beat the Sh*t out of 'em though.
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joeblowe
Nov. 1, 2007, 11:02 a.m.It's the American Way in action. These butt-wipes have the 1st amendment right to express their idiotic views; the family has the right to sue them to the poor house for emotional harm. Seems fair to me. I'd guess the $11 million was calculated to HURT those idiots enough to make them think twice about doing it again. Maybe next time, $100 million - or perhaps some jail time? I think there's a law preventing this now isn't there? Until the S.C. finds it violates the 1st Amendment anyway.
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Dicax_Maximus
Nov. 1, 2007, 11:19 a.m.Wouldn't it be nice, if one of the top lawyers who specialise in these kind of law suits, would act pro-bono for ALL the people affected by these pieces of low life, worthless anal produce (one at a time, as in multiple suits in multiple states) and get the damages & court cases to such a degree, that this lot could NEVER even afford their car's let alone anywhere to "worship"...
I placed worship in double quotes, because as far as I am concerned, they insult the word, regardless of their faith... And I'm an agnostic !!!!
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not2needy
Nov. 1, 2007, 11:35 a.m.I don't want to be a wet blanket, but they will never get a dime!
But maybe this will be enough to put a stop to the ignorance of this cult!
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tryingtofindmyway
Nov. 1, 2007, 1:02 p.m.I'm going to go against the mob mentality here. I imagine the jury was full of individuals as emotionally driven and unbalanced as most of you seem to be. In order to calm your frothing hatred, allow me to say that I find the behavior of this church despicable. Let there be no doubt about that. However,I'm frightened by this verdict, as I am by the reaction of the netscape members commenting here. A federal judge ruled that this group was violating no law by protesting, as long as they stayed a certain distance away. A jury decided to make "invasion of family privacy and emotional pain" a crime. This jury utterly ignored the law, and ruled on the basis of bitter personal vandetta. Some memebrs here even suggest that the death penalty or mob lynching would be appropriate. As the only legal mind(the judge)presiding pointed out, the $11 million far exceeded the worth of the individuals being sued. Juries are not bound by restraint or reason.
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tryingtofindmyway
Nov. 1, 2007, 1:09 p.m.This is precisely why the jury system is no longer valid, and perhaps never has been. The average American is utterly unqualified to consider legal arguments and make a judgment on the basis of LAW. The average American cannot think analytically, is emotionally charged, sees life in terms of extremes, has little regard or ability to apply the law to real life cases, and above all can be easily manipulated by smooth talking attorneys who know that most jury members are sheep berift of the ability to think for themselves. You all are obsessed with your feelings against this behavior, and could care less about the law or any form of restraint. Whatever they get is too good for them in your minds, yet the crime is not even a crime based on the rule of law! This is where our society is heading though; no surprise. Soon, the only real crimes will be ideological intolerance, offending others, inflicting emotional pain, and questioning the rights of others to do whatever they want.
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fishifanb
Nov. 1, 2007, 1:27 p.m.These people exemplify everything I hate about "Christian" fundamentalism or any other sort of blind, self-righteous fanaticism that seeks to force extreme views on the rest of us.
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Wolfie2007
Nov. 1, 2007, 1:42 p.m.tryingtofindmyway
Yes, you are probably right about the defendants 1st Amendments as they are probably being violated and the judgement will most likely be reversed. I emphatically disagree with you condemnation of Americans. I don't believe they all have forgotten to think rationally and logically and I don't think you're correct about our jury system. Also, the remarks by members on the board regarding violence toward the defendants are made more in humor than reality. Lighten up.
If you are really interested in the the American Jury System check out the Fully Informed Jury Assoc. Maybe you'll want to get involved to make the system better. You can find them at www.figa.org/
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