Item: Court tosses out Westboro verdict
October 1, 2009
::: A federal appeals court has tossed out a $5 million verdict levied against the notoriously anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church after members of the church protested outside the Maryland funeral of a marine killed in Iraq. The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals noted that the anti-gay and anti-military messages on signs carried by Westboro protesters were ?distasteful and repugnant?, but were nonetheless protected speech and did not violate the privacy of the service member’s family. Westboro church members claim that soldiers are being killed in Iraq and Afghanistan as punishment for what they say is the nation’s tolerance of homosexuality. A federal jury in Baltimore awarded nearly $11 million to the family of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, ruling that the family’s privacy had been invaded. In February 2008, a federal judge reduced the damages from $10.9 million to $5 million, citing constitutional concerns of appropriateness.
Source: Anti-gay church wins round in court — baltimoresun.com