For Stevie B

[Van Canna]

As sung in the godfather movie in Sicilian dialect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zGUULhl ... re=related

Mesmerizing

[Glenn]

Being only the next state, Westboro has made a presence here a few times. They even picketed my daughter's high school last year when the school did a play about the homosexual guy who was tortured and killed in Wyoming a few years ago. One thing you do not want to do is let them emotionally highjack you to the extent that you do something against them. Part of their modus operandi is to get people to react to them in some physical way, even just a push, and then they immediately slap a lawsuit on who/whatever they can connected with the event. Supposedly that is their main source of funding. Ignoring them is truly the best option. The high school was very concerned about this when they found out Westboro was going to protest the play, so they did a lot of recommending/insisting that students and parents not confront them.

[Stevie B]

How do you sue a Sicilian?!? LMAO!!!!

[Bill Glasheen]

I have to say that for all the ambulance chasing scumbags we have in this country with socially liberal interests, I'm surprised that one or more of them hasn't gotten the idea actually to do some good by bogging these people down with innumerable lawsuits and legal maneuvers. They managed to force Palin out of the governor's mansion with merit-less "ethics charges" which cost her over half a million to defend before she declared "Uncle!" Nothing against this church? Their members? Their associates?

I'm not a lawyer and I don't play one on TV. But when it comes to a lack of a bullying response, the word pathetic comes to mind. Hence my constant call for tort reform. It is a system out of control, allowing scoundrels and moneygrubbers to wreak havoc on the innocent with little recourse. Such behavior can only go on for so long before the unthinkable becomes possible.

Don't like my opinion on the matter? Ask me if I care. A gun is a wonderful thing until one is pointed at your head. Same with an out-of-control legal system.

- Bill

[Van Canna]

It is a wonder there haven't been any reprisal killings so far by families or military personnel.

Ignoring them, if possible, is of course the best option…but it doesn't seem to work…does it? They are still doing it whenever they get the chance…as they know they can do it with impunity.

[mhosea]

It is a wonder there haven't been any reprisal killings so far by families or military personnel.

God only knows how lucky they are that the guys who were with the solder when he was killed are still deployed and not there to see it.

Have not looked into it, but perhaps they are selective, analyzing the danger of potentially lethal sorts of reprisals up front. They want fists, not bullets. Still, lots of families have a crazy uncle, so maybe they have been lucky, too.

[Van Canna]

I agree, Mike. My opinion is they are basically cowards...the draft dodgers of today...and they hide their cowardice behind their demonstrations.

I think all this would probably come to a stop when...I say when, because it will happen someday...someone steps forth from the crowds and guns them down. Hopefully no innocents will be hit.

A problem, as pointed out by Bill, is the tort system...though it is hard for me to understand where they are collecting money from when they trigger a confrontation where fists fly.

Usually, settling claims of alleged damages from being shoved/punched etc., is done with an insurance company, not from an uninsured person as it is very hard to collect...they need to prove they are free from comparative negligence, and must prove injuries and damages.

And Insurance companies, usually do not cover anyone for an intentional act, such as an irate family member at a funeral...punching one of these dog turds littering the streets.

So where are they collecting all this money from?

[Glenn]

I am not finding that they have gotten any money that way, so it may be more urban legend than anything.

However they have gotten money from individuals and governments in other ways. From the Southern Poverty Law Center

Fred Phelps and his small congregation provide WBC's funding; the group neither solicits nor accepts outside donations. In addition to this income, the church makes money by winning or settling civil lawsuits involving the church. During the 1990s, the group sued Topeka multiple times for failing to provide sufficient protection during its protests. Although they lost most of their cases, WBC did win $43,000 in legal fees in 1993. According to Shirley Phelps-Roper, they also won more than $100,000 in 1995 in a lawsuit against Kansas' Funeral Picketing Act, which they claimed violated their First Amendment rights. Because the Phelps family represents WBC in court, they can put the fees they win towards supporting the church.

On March 10, 2006, the WBC picketed the funeral of Matthew Snyder, a Marine who was killed while serving in Iraq. WBC members held signs reading "Thank God for dead soldiers" and "You're going to Hell." Matthew's father, Albert Snyder, sued WBC for defamation, invasion of privacy, and emotional distress, going to trial in 2007. He originally won a $10.9 million judgment, but it was reversed on appeal in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. On March 8, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal. On March 19, 2010, the Fourth Circuit ordered Albert Snyder to pay more than $16,000 for the WBC's court costs. Snyder described the Fourth Circuit's order as "a slap in the face." In early March 2011, the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment protected WBC's right to hold protests at funerals.

And with that Supreme Court ruling Snyder is now looking at being forced to pay almost $100,000 in court costs to Westboro ( Snyder will fight Westboro on court costs, lawyer says ) Just sickening.

On June 5, 2007, Shirley Phelps-Roper was arrested while protesting in Bellevue, Neb. Shirley had allowed her son to stand on an American flag, while she wore a flag around her waist, allowing it to drag along the ground as she walked. Shirley was charged under a Nebraska flag desecration law. She was also charged with negligent child abuse, disturbing the peace, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor (because she allowed her son to violate the flag law.) On July 27, 2010, the city of Bellevue dropped the charges of flag desecration and contributing to the delinquency of a child, due to a federal judge declaring the flag desecration law unconstitutional. The city also paid Phelps-Roper $17,000 in a settlement agreement, in exchange for her dropping a pending lawsuit against the city. However, the city did not drop the charges of disturbing the peace and negligent child abuse.

Regarding someone eventually going postal on them, it kinda happened last year in Omaha Nebraska when a Vietnam vet sprayed mace into a crowd at a funeral/protest as he drove by. The plan was neither well thought out nor well executed though.
Assault charge for vet targeting Westboro group

[Van Canna]

Sickening all right.
But someday soon this might well precipitate a 'Sicilian Vespers' solution.Who knows...when you push emotionally distraught people far enough....

[Bill Glasheen]

Again I am not an attorney. That said, it seems to me that much could be learned by studying their playbook.

If you want to stop them, you don't need to "win." You just need to bog them down with lawsuits and legal maneuvers the way Palin was forced to leave the governor's mansion due to innumerable "ethics charges."

I do find it interesting that they've been able to get their opponents stuck with paying their legal fees. It seems to me that Albert Snyder's case was more than reasonable, and he deserved his day in court. If this precedent of "winner takes all" begins to stick, that would be new for U.S. tort practices. And it could be used against these protesters if ever they lost one of their own suits. Fair is fair!

- Bill

[Van Canna]

I agree, Bill_ but I wonder if there'd be many Attorneys out there willing to take cases against them on 'contingency' basis.

'Going legal' on them would be very expensive for bereaved families...and would there be any 'deep pockets' available in case of 'legal wins'?

I doubt these morons have any real funds or any insurance that would even entertain the thought of paying off...

But then again...if there are lawyers willing to do it in principle and do battle against those people...why not...

Any ideas?

[Glenn]

I do find it interesting that they've been able to get their opponents stuck with paying their legal fees. It seems to me that Albert Snyder's case was more than reasonable, and he deserved his day in court. If this precedent of "winner takes all" begins to stick, that would be new for U.S. tort practices.

I am not an attorney either, but some of the articles I looked at indicated that the winner being able to sue the loser to pay court costs is a normal aspect of the system, but seldom used because in most cases the subsequent costs spent trying to recoup the previous costs tend to make it pointless for most people. The articles said that Westboro can get away with it because

the Phelps family represents WBC in court, they can put the fees they win towards supporting the church.

Since it is all within the family with no external attorney to pay they can afford to go after court costs, if they lose they are not out much.

But if you or I win a lawsuit we probably could not afford to sue the other party for court costs. In fact I considered it with that suit brought against me a couple years ago that I mentioned on here, but quickly realized it would cost me more then what I would recoup.

[Valkenar]

This is the flipside of the issue Bill often is concerned about. What bothers me is that large organizations are able to bully people using the legal system. They don't have to be right, they just have to be aggressive. While some of us might try to fight an unjust lawsuit on principle, most are willing to settle for a couple thousand rather than fight a legal battle that will cost them tens of thousand of dollars even if they win, and a lot of time on top of that. Add to that the fact you can lose even when you're in the right if their attorneys out-lawyer yours, and defending a suit isn't even worth it. Theoretically, there are protections in place, like what Glen mentioned, that should protect against this kind of abuse, but in practice they tend not to be used.

[Van Canna]

Just listen to this abominable @$!@##

http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum ... 413348/pg1

[Van Canna]

Case in point

“The Westboro folks are cowards, they have been "invited" to protest veterans deaths in East LA by the local gang members who stated "one of ours will walk up and put one in their head even if a cop is standing two feet away, let them come", but of course you don't ever see the cowards from Westboro going anywhere near East LA to protest. I don't condone or promote this type of activity but it does show how cowardly the so called church members are.”