Hacker group threatens to go after Westboro Baptist Church?

Over the weekend, an open letter from Anonymous, the hacker group that's gone after everyone from the Egyptian government to PayPal, warned the Westboro Baptist Church to cease its protests or risk being the group's next target. There's some question, though, whether the letter is legitimate.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, A Thinking Human Being!

Phelps gang avoids court again

Shirey Phelps-Roper of the Topeka-based Westboro Baptist Church struck a deal with a Nebraska prosecutors Monday. She agreed to drop charges against the state for malicious prosecution, if the state dropped charges against her of child neglect and disturbing the peace while protesting at a soldier's funeral in 2007 with her son. The family of the soldier who was killed in Iraq in 2007 is disappointed.   

A setback for Westboro Baptist?

In Omaha, a federal judge has ruled against Shirley Phelps-Roper of the Westboro Baptist Church, who sought an injunction against Nebraska's funeral-picketing law. Phelps-Roper is suing the state over that law, which prohibits protests within 300 feet of a funeral, and its law against flag desecration. From the AP:

In her ruling Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Laurie Smith Camp said that the Nebraska funeral picketing law protects family members attending services, while leaving ample alternatives for Phelps-Roper's protests that are protected by the First Amendment.

You might remember that Phelps-Roper is facing trial later this summer in Sarpy County, Neb., over a funeral protest from 2007.

Marine's dad argues his case against Westboro Baptist picketers

Lawyers for Albert Snyder -- who sued Westboro Baptist Church after it picketed his Marine son's funeral -- have filed a brief spelling out their argument to the U.S. Supreme Court. Snyder had won an earlier suit, claiming invasion of privacy and emotional distress, but it was overturned on free-speech grounds. And that's led the Supreme to agree to hear the case later this year.

Here's a PDF of the brief. Their response to the First Amendment argument is that Westboro Baptist is interfering with Snyder's First Amendment rights, too, to assemble and practice religion.

Westboro Baptist to picket Dio funeral

Oh, man. This just sounds like a really, really bad idea. I'm not saying any of their funeral protests could be labeled as "well-conceived," but this one just reeks of beatdown.

Donors offer to pay Westboro Baptist?

Yet another twist in Albert Snyder's lawsuit against Westboro Baptist Church: People across the country are donating money to help him pay the $16,510 that he's been ordered to pay the church, the Baltimore Sun reports. Anything left over will go toward furthering his legal battle against the Topeka-based congregation, which pickets the funerals of servicemembers and gay and lesbian people. (One of our commenters mentioned yesterday that Bill O'Reilly had offered to pay the whole $16K.)

Past CSKC posts on the matter can be found here and here.

Man refuses to pay Westboro Baptist

Just an update to yesterday's news about a court ordering Albert Snyder, a man suing Westboro Baptist Church for picketing his Marine son's funeral, to pay the church's legal fees, which amount to approximately $16,000. Snyder says he refuses to pay the money until he hears from the U.S. Supreme Court, which plans to hear the case.

That case, by the way, looks to be another big First Amendment test. Snyder sued the church for emotional distress, but his initial win was overturned by an appeals court, which ruled that protesters had free-speech protection.

Here's a PDF of Snyder's case, viewable as a PDF. (Thanks to FindLaw!)

Man told to pay Westboro Baptist

Albert Snyder -- the Pennsylvania man whose Marine son's funeral was protested by Westboro Baptist Church -- has been ordered to pay the church over $16,000 to cover the cost of their appeals, the AP reports. That case is going to be considered by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Westboro Baptist is going to the Supreme Court

And not just to protest. Several months ago, the Topeka-based church got socked with a $5 million judgment after they picketed the funeral of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, a Marine killed in Iraq. The dead man's father sued them for emotional distress and invasion of privacy and won -- only to see a U.S. appeals court knock it down. It's his appeal that brings the case to the Supremes. (The court just now agreed to hear it -- they'll get to it this fall.)

The appeals court, by the way, said that Westboro Baptist was protected because their signs -- which say that soldiers' deaths are God punishing America for tolerating gays and lesbians -- are protected by the First Amendment. The question for the Supremes is whether the church is on the hook for any consequences of those statements, i.e. emotional distress, etc.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Keith G in PV!

File photo via AP / Jed Kirschbaum

Westboro Baptist member to sue Nebraska officials

Longtime readers will remember that Shirley Phelps-Roper, a member of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, is facing criminal charges in Nebraska because she reportedly let her kid stand on a U.S. flag during a funeral protest. She's also accused of wearing the flag as a skirt and letting it drag on the ground.

Nebraska has a law against flag desecration, but Phelps-Roper and her counsel have tried arguing that, based on U.S. Supreme Court rulings, that law is unconstitutional -- to no avail. So now, she's planning to file a federal suit against Nebraska officials, saying they're abusing their power.

God hates flags*

Just a quick update on the case against Shirley Phelps-Roper, the Westboro Baptist member who's accused of flag descration in Nebraska. (She allegedly let her son stand on the flag during a protest, and she reportedly wore the flag as a skirt that dragged on the ground, the AP reports.) Her attorney had appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court, arguing the flag-desecration law itself was unconstitutional. The court has turned them down.

HAT TIP: Tony's Kansas City had the headline first. It was too perfect not to steal.

Westboro Baptist wins appeal

A few years ago, Westboro Baptist Church was sued for invasion of privacy and emotional distress after they picketed a funeral for a Marine lance corporal in Maryland. (That man was named Matthew Snyder.) His father sued the church and won a $5 million judgment ... which has just been overturned by a federal appeals panel, citing First Amendment protection. Snyder's father is considering an appeal to the Supreme Court.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, JUNGLE JIM!

KC close to repealing its ban on funeral protests?

From Lynn Horsley: A City Council Committee recommended today that the city repeal its ordinance against funeral picketing despite council outrage over the Fred Phelps family’s picketing of military funerals.

The council’s Public Safety and Neighborhoods Committee endorsed repealing the city law because recent court rulings have struck down other cities’ funeral picketing restrictions. Kansas City has also been threatened with a lawsuit arguing that its ordinance is an unlawful infringement on free speech rights.

The full council will consider the repeal later this month.

Should KC repeal its funeral-picketing ordinance?

Westboro Baptist Church has threatened to sue Kansas City over its ordinance banning funeral picketing. The legal department says they'll probably lose, and the ordinance will be knocked down anyway. Councilman Ed Ford wants to go ahead and repeal. The rest of the committee delayed and asked the legal department for a "creative" solution, KCUR reports.

MO still can't enforce its law on funeral protests

The Supreme Court has refused to get involved in the case, the AP reports. Shirley Phelps-Roper of Westboro Baptist Church previously got a federal appeals court to prevent the state from enforcing the law until a federal judge decides whether it's constitutional.

Update on the Phelps-Roper flag desecration case

Shirley Phelps-Roper, a member of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, is on trial in Papillion, Neb., on a charge of flag desecration. Authorities allege that Phelps-Roper let her son stand on the flag during a 2007 funeral protest, and they say that Phelps-Roper herself wore a flag as a skirt that dragged on the ground.

The defense is arguing that her First Amendment rights are being ignored here. They've tried to get the law itself thrown out, but a county court has upheld it.

The AP says that both sides in the case have presented written arguments, nothing oral, and the judge will give his ruling at some point in the future. No deadline was set.

Westboro gets a temporary win over Gladstone's funeral-protest rule

From Mark Morris: A Kansas City federal judge today barred the city of Gladstone from enforcing an ordinance that prohibits protests at soldiers’ funerals.

Shirley L. Phelps-Roper of Topeka’s Westboro Baptist Church asked for the order pending a decision on whether the city’s ordinance is constitutional. The same judge also is considering whether a similar Missouri law is constitutional.

Say, how are our friends at Westboro Baptist?

As it happens, they're getting to meet some young people from Shawnee Mission East.

Also, it looks like those flag-desecration charges against Shirley Phelps-Roper are really going to go forward in Nebraska.

Hat Tip: Saw this via the Pitch's Plog!

St. Joe sued over funeral picketing law

The ACLU filed suit for Shirley Phelps-Roper of Westboro Baptist Church, a Topeka congregation infamous for protesting the funerals of, well, everybody. (Though legislators didn't get moved to action until it was soldiers and not, say, people with AIDS.) St. Joe has an ordinance banning the practice. Phelps-Roper says the city's rules are unconstitutional. Mark Morris has more here.

And if you want to read the entire lawsuit, ta-da. It's available here as a PDF.

File photo of Phelps-Roper protesting at Ground Zero in New York.

Westboro Baptist really doesn't want to pay $5 million judgment

From The AP: A lawyer for Topeka-based Westboro Baptist Church on Tuesday urged the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond to overturn a Maryland jury’s $5 million award to the family of Matthew Snyder, a Marine who was killed in Iraq. Protesters carried signs with inflammatory messages like, “You’re going to hell.”

An attorney for the church said the messages were grounded in the congregation’s religious beliefs and were protected by the Constitution.

The Snyder family’s attorney said the messages were not protected because they did not involve a matter of public concern.

Westboro Baptist wins a battle over funeral protests

From The AP: A federal appeals court panel said Friday that Missouri should be barred from enforcing a state law limiting protests near funerals until it can be determined if the law is constitutional.

The same three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis reached the same conclusion last December. But the state of Missouri appealed, saying the judges had used the wrong legal standard.

The court on Friday said Westboro Baptist Church member Shirley Phelps-Roper had met the higher standard and was entitled to an injunction barring the state from enforcing the law.

ACLU: These Death Row inmates deserve health care

The ACLU says that Death Row inmates in Terre Haute are regularly denied treatment, not just for medical problems, but dental and mental issues, too.

It cited one instance of an inmate, who was not identified, pressing an emergency call button in his cell for 45 minutes before receiving attention for a heart problem.

It took three hours for a doctor to arrive and for the prisoner to be taken to the prison hospital, and another five days before the prisoner received his first dose of medication prescribed by a cardiologist.

A simple way to save the lives of cab drivers?

Local blog "Toellner Tells It" has a post about a simple, clever way that Canadian cab companies protect their drivers ...

UPDATE: Westboro Baptist plans to picket beheading victim's funeral

Only they didn't.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, You're A Mean Drunk R2D2!

Canada gives the boot to Westboro Baptist

The church group, which was planning to protest the funeral of the Greyhound beheading victim, got stopped at the border after several Canadians contacted the government. WBC spokeswoman Shirley Phelps-Roper wasn't particularly worried though:

"They won't let us in, but we have a group that will cross in another spot," she said. "They'll have to strip search everyone who crosses that border or they won't know who we are. They'll have to see the WBC (Westboro Baptist Church) tattoo on our butts."

Hat Tip: Many thanks, You're A Mean Drunk R2D2!