Westboro Church finally taken to court...

[Shadylookin]

Well, I would disagree. People most certainly can be harmed by words, and I think this man was harmed. It would make me sick as well if someone did this to one of my kids funeral. I would be shocked if a jury didnt find in his favor as well.

Generally the courts believe in the old adage sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt you. It will be a pretty tough case to prove that you were damaged significantly enough by words to warrant 100,000 dollars.

and like Jolly said i imagine they will win the jury, but lose the appeal

 

[Shadylookin]

Slander, liable, defamation of character.


But lets also remember this isn't the government suing or taking away rights. The 1st Amendment says that Congress shall make no law restricting the free excise of speech.

isn't liable since it isn't written, and it isn't slander since it's an opinion. Slander is saying skadistic killed 3 babies when they know it isn't true with the purpose of damaging your reputation. saying all marines should go to hell because there are homosexuals in the united states is an opinion.

 

[dosed150]

im guessing there arent any laws in the usa about preaching hate if the phelps can get away with the kind of stuff they say, i think we have a law like that in the uk, from the documentaries ive seen they are really hateful and if they hate freedom so much why dont they get out of the usa and go to some backwards country that agrees with their beliefs

i mean i dont agree with the war in iraq but anyone willing to put their live on the line like that deserves respect- except of course in the rare cases were they abuse prisoners or deliberately attack civilians

 

[downtown]

isn't liable since it isn't written, and it isn't slander since it's an opinion. .

Well, the actual standard for slander and libel differs from state court to state court. I don't think the WBC's actions would fall under what the Ohio Supreme Court definition of libel/slander (its a 4 part test)...but it might somewhere else.

 

[emzie]

Sadly, the WBC has its own lawfirm, made up of all WBC members. I don't see them being stupid enough to break any law. They learned their lessons from the KKK.

 

[MobBoss]

Sadly, the WBC has its own lawfirm, made up of all WBC members. I don't see them being stupid enough to break any law. They learned their lessons from the KKK.

You mean...no one who ever had an attorney was stupid enough to brake a law? Wow.

Sorry, but I disagree with you there. Simply because they have their own in-house attorneys that will argue for them, doesnt mean they are immune to being stupid...or breaking a law.

 

[skadistic]

Nothing on the local news that I've seen yet.

 

[emzie]

You mean...no one who ever had an attorney never broke a law? Wow.

No of course not. I mean they check with their legal team before doing anything. If the law says 50 feet from a church, they know about it, and abide by it.

I loathe this church and everything they do. I would love nothing more than to see them all rot in prison, or be financially ruined, for anything. But I just don't see them slipping up that bad

 

[MobBoss]

No of course not. I mean they check with their legal team before doing anything. If the law says 50 feet from a church, they know about it, and abide by it.

I loathe this church and everything they do. I would love nothing more than to see them all rot in prison, or be financially ruined, for anything. But I just don't see them slipping up that bad

Well, we can always hope...

 

[Bugfatty300]

I'm not sure you're allowed to protest too close to a funeral, or something along those lines.

There is a legal distance which they obey to the inch. They're smarter than most people think. Why do you think they are only now being taken to court? So far they have done nothing illegal and are protected by freedom of speech.

I hope the Marine's family wins the case but I don't want freedom of speech curtailed.

 

[Stylesjl]

I hope they win the case. About time those hatemongers were hit in a place where it really hurts

 

[druidravi]

This is sick....I can't see how there are people who could be brain-washed so much into such an ideology. I hope they go broke .

 

[Gogf]

Generally the courts believe in the old adage sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt you.

The courts don't have a problem with slander?

 

[eyrei]

If these fools showed up at a funeral for someone I cared about, whoever appeared to be their leader would limp home holding a hanky to his face. Every time he tried to continue their 'protest' he would find himself on the ground again until he decided to leave.

I really don't understand why this hasn't happened yet...I'm not a particularly violent person, but I would not tolerate this.

 

[The Yankee]

You would think a bunch of people would have charged the Westboro Church crazyfest by now....

I do hope they get taken to the cleaners, even if it would not deter them. Though, it should be within the letter of the law.

 

[Shadylookin]

The courts don't have a problem with slander?

in most jurisdictions slander only counts if its

1. a factual misrepresentation, such as Gogf killed 3 babies. Opinion's are never slander
2. They know it's untrue, but say it anyway
3. They did it with the sole purpose to damage your reputation.
4. to win the case the burden of proof is on the plaintiff to demonstrate how they did all these things

even with overwhelming evidence, because of our strong commitment to free speech, it's still hard to win a slander suit.

Also the courts generally have a problem with giving excessive rewards for non-tangible things like emotional distress. Even if he does win this case I doubt that he will win his 100,000

 

[emzie]

If these fools showed up at a funeral for someone I cared about, whoever appeared to be their leader would limp home holding a hanky to his face. Every time he tried to continue their 'protest' he would find himself on the ground again until he decided to leave.

I really don't understand why this hasn't happened yet...I'm not a particularly violent person, but I would not tolerate this.

Because they thrive on that. And they usually have police protection.

If you punched Fred Phelps, you can bet he's going to sue you and your city for failing to protect him.

I do find it ironic how much they rely on the 'fag-controlled' system. Though part of me has always seen the entire outfit as a money-making scam.

 

[The Yankee]

There's nothing noble in their actions, but that's the price we pay for freedom.

How ironic that they're protesting at the funerals of some of the very people that made their expression of insanity possible.

 

[holy king]

How ironic that they're protesting at the funerals of some of the very people that made their expression of insanity possible.

some gi who got thrown into irak for purposes he maybe didnt even understand made their expression of insanity possible?
if saddam was still in charge today, there would be no freedom of speech in the us?
come on...

 

[The Yankee]

Did I mention Iraq? No, I did not. Please reread the post and consider the profession of those that ended up in the caskets.