Made up almost entirely of relatives of its founder, Fred Phelps Sr., the fire-and-brimstone Christian group, based in Topeka, has protested military funerals across the country with placards bearing shock-value messages such as "Thank God for dead soldiers."
Most recently, they announced they would appear at services for deceased Hollywood actor Heath Ledger, who starred in the film Brokeback Mountain, a gay love story.
Several leading constitutional scholars say they believe that Westboro has a good chance of overturning the verdict on appeal based on broad First Amendment protections.
But in his decision yesterday, Bennett stood firm.
"Defendants cannot by their own actions transform a private funeral into a public event and then bootstrap their position by arguing that Matthew Snyder was a public figure," the judge wrote.
Bennett also took time in his decision to quote extensively the courtroom account given by Albert Snyder at the trial.
"He testified that Defendants placed a `bug' in his head. ... such that he is unable to separate thoughts of his son from the Defendant's actions: "there are nights that I just, you know, I try to think of my son at times and every time I think of my son or pass his picture handing on the wall or see the medals handing on the wall that he received from the [Marine Corps], I see those signs."
Church leaders argued in court papers that the jury did not take into account their net worth when it imposed an award of more than 10 times their financial holdings.
"The First Amendment prohibits this action from going forward," Shirley Phelps-Roper said yesterday. "It always has and it always will. You can rebel against that law, but that's why we have appeals courts. So we're off and running."
Lawyers for the Marine's father say they believe the church should be ordered to pay the award immediately or post a bond to secure the judgment during the appeals process. They added that they have evidence produced during discovery for the trial that Westboro members did not tell the truth about their assets.
"Based on the case law, the reduction in the award does not surprise us," Snyder's attorney Sean Summers said yesterday. "But we're very pleased with the decision to uphold the jury's verdict."
matthew.dolan@baltsun.com
online
Read the judge's written opinion at baltimoresun.com/westboro
