Westboro hit for $11 mil in damages

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN3134225120071031

Kirksey's favorite church, Westboro Baptist, finally got hit with a stiff fine for protesting at funerals. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of people.

Originally posted by SwissGambit
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN3134225120071031

Kirksey's favorite church, Westboro Baptist, finally got hit with a stiff fine for protesting at funerals. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of people.

Now they can claim they're being persecuted.

Originally posted by SwissGambit
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN3134225120071031

Kirksey's favorite church, Westboro Baptist, finally got hit with a stiff fine for protesting at funerals. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of people.

We should all hope that this verdict is reversed on appeal. No matter how distasteful the Phelps' message is, it is protected speech.

Originally posted by no1marauder
We should all hope that this verdict is reversed on appeal. No matter how distasteful the Phelps' message is, it is protected speech.

You're an idiot.

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
You're an idiot.

It's not in the Bible (which you don't understand either) but if you do some actual study of the principles upon which Jeffersonian democracies are based, you might find this thing called "free speech".

Originally posted by no1marauder
It's not in the Bible (which you don't understand either) but if you do some actual study of the principles upon which Jeffersonian democracies are based, you might find this thing called "free speech".

I was simply practising the same. Is there a problem?

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
I was simply practising the same. Is there a problem?

Practice away. There is a problem when political speech is restricted based on its content.

EDIT: The Phelps also relied on a "freedom of religious expression" argument:

The church members testified they are following their religious beliefs by spreading the message that soldiers are dying because America is too tolerant of homosexuality.


“God promised dire outpourings of very painful wrath, and there’s nothing more painful than killing one of your children and that’s what’s going on in Iraq,” church founder Fred Phelps told msnbc.com in a 2006 interview. “That’s what we’re preaching and the forum of choice to deliver such a message, obviously, is the funeral of the kid that’s been blown to smithereens."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21566280/

Originally posted by no1marauder
We should all hope that this verdict is reversed on appeal. No matter how distasteful the Phelps' message is, it is protected speech.

I agree. To let this judgment stand would be an awful legal precedent. This isn't Canada.

Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
I agree. To let this judgment stand would be an awful legal precedent. This isn't Canada.

Canada?

Originally posted by no1marauder
Canada?

Isn't political speech that is mean illegal in Canada? As a matter of fact, isn't it criminal there?

http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_hat6.htm

Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
Isn't political speech that is mean illegal in Canada? As a matter of fact, isn't it criminal there?

I'll check.

EDIT: This National Review article by a law professor seems to think so:

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/bernstein200312020910.asp

Of course, Europe has similar laws regarding Holocaust deniers and other "hate" speech.

Originally posted by SwissGambit
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN3134225120071031

Kirksey's favorite church, Westboro Baptist, finally got hit with a stiff fine for protesting at funerals. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of people.

I couldn't agree more. When I read about it, I actually cheered.

Originally posted by SwissGambit
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN3134225120071031

Kirksey's favorite church, Westboro Baptist, finally got hit with a stiff fine for protesting at funerals. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of people.

BTW, it's not a fine.

Originally posted by PinkFloyd
I couldn't agree more. When I read about it, I actually cheered.

Is there any essential difference between what this group does and what people who protest at abortion clinics do?

Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
Is there any essential difference between what this group does and what people who protest at abortion clinics do?

Yeah. One is a public building; the other a private ceremony.