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Appeals Court Overturns Verdict Against Military Funeral Protesters
A federal appeals court Thursday overturned a $5 million verdict against a Kansas church whose members protest at the funerals of fallen U.S. troops with signs that bear such messages as “Thank God for dead soldiers.”
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RICHMOND, Va. (September 24, 2009)--A federal appeals court Thursday overturned a $5 million verdict against protesters from a Kansas church who carried signs with such inflammatory messages as "Thank God for dead soldiers" outside a funeral in Maryland for a U.S. Marine who was killed in Iraq.
A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the signs contained "imaginative and hyperbolic rhetoric" protected by the First Amendment.
A jury in Baltimore had awarded Albert Snyder damages for emotional distress and invasion of privacy over the protest at his son’s funeral in 2006.
Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder’s funeral was among one of many military funerals that members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan. have picketed.
Albert Snyder's attorney said he plans to appeal Thursday's ruling either to the full appeals court or to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Latest Comments
If this is protected then why were the protestors sprayed with tear gas today in Pennsylvania? This just doesn't make any sense. Is there no decency any longer? Did the church have a permit to protest?
What a shame!! This group is so disgusting! I guess in a society where rev wright's rhetoric is condoned, encouraged and supported, this must be too! I bet however if their rhetoric targeted blacks or islam, they'd be in prison! Where has america gone???
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