Contact
Subscribe


God Hates Fred Phelps

Sep 25, 2009
By .
Law

You have the good fortune to live in a country where your freedom to say, and believe, that God hates Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church is protected by law.  If Phelps ran the government, I'd go to prison or be executed for saying that:

The U.S. fourth circuit court of appeals said Thursday the Rev. Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church were within their First Amendment rights to protest at the funeral of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder.

The ruling reversed a Maryland jury's verdict in October 2007 to award Albert Snyder, a Spring Garden Township resident, $2.9 million in compensatory damages and $8 million in punitive damages for emotional distress and invasion of privacy.

A few thoughts: though philosophically I'm not of the opinion that the First Amendment should provide as much protection from private actions in tort as it does from criminal proscription by the government, the Federal courts, to the extent they've erred in this matter, have tended to do so on the side of free speech, and I approve of that.

A tort action, whether phrased as defamation (traditionally not protected by the First Amendment) or intentional infliction of emotional distress, has just as much potential to shut down controversial, often valuable, speech and debate as a spell in jail.  In this case, a Maryland jury correctly awarded Albert Snyder $10.9 million in damages.

I say that the jury was correct.   Fred Phelps should be bankrupt.  Fred Phelps should live the rest of his days as a pauper, or better still in debtor's prison.  The problem is that the judge should have dismissed this case before it ever got to a jury.  The problem is that if we're going to do that to Phelps, we'll have to pauperize or imprison other people whose ideas and speech upset their neighbors.  Those who blaspheme against the Prophet Muhammad for instance, a direction to which much of Europe and Canada are trending though they're supposedly secular.  Or perhaps those who say cruel things about Republicans or Democrats.  Since I don't want to live in a country where blaspheming against Muhammad, or insulting Republicans or Democrats is a crime, I'm willing to accord Fred Phelps the right to be a non-violent monster, even when he insults dead soldiers.

My heart goes out to Mr. Snyder.  We all know that the best policy with a Fred Phelps is to ignore him, but some provocations are unbearable, and we're human.  The second best might be a punch in the nose, but that is illegal.  As we've observed before, maybe the best practical counter-attack against a Phelps is to do a good deed in his name.

Tomorrow morning Phelps and his crew of bigots will be spewing their homophobic anti-semitic bile at Union Temple, a reform Judaism synagogue in Brooklyn.  If you're reading this, and have a few dollars to spare for a good deed, perhaps a donation to one of their affiliated charities might be in order.

Make it in the name of Corporal Matthew Snyder, for the forgiveness of Fred Phelps.

Last 5 posts by Patrick Non-White

8 Comments
Tags , ,

7 Comments

  1. Ken  •  Sep 25, 2009 @3:49 pm

    I was going to buy two new games this week. Donated $100 in Fred's name instead.

  2. Jdog  •  Sep 25, 2009 @7:21 pm

    Yup, to all of that. Except for the forgiveness of Fred Phelps. I don't criticize others for forgiving that air thief, not in the slightest; but I don't have the slightest inclination to.

  3. Shay  •  Sep 26, 2009 @12:31 pm

    I will save my forgiveness for his children and his grandchildren, who have been brainwashed their entire lives into supporting this vicious hatriot.

  4. Patrick  •  Sep 26, 2009 @1:25 pm

    If one prays sincerely that a Phelps be forgiven of his sins, all of them, not just the conduct that makes him famous but certainly including that conduct, Phelps would become enraged. Of course, if one prays that Phelps be forgiven and granted grace merely to spite Phelps, that's an insincere prayer and a sin in its own right, arguably greater than any Phelps has committed.

    Fortunately, as an agnostic this doesn't trouble me. I have a moral code but only vague notions of a higher power. I simply think that the idea of giving to worthy charity in Phelps' name, and for spite, is a wonderful one and commend those who did it for Beth Simchat Torah (see one of the links above). Charity is its own reward. When it can be given for such a delicious reason as spiting Westboro Baptist, well, all the better.

  5. Base of the Pillar  •  Sep 27, 2009 @6:29 am

    I'd like to show my rare appreciation for Michael Moore: MM vs. Fred

    But in reality, the only way to defeat Kane is with a charmed Indian lance.

  6. Jdog  •  Sep 28, 2009 @6:05 am

    I find Phelps phascinating. Here's a guy with a real history as a civil rights lawyer — we're not talking a giant, granted, but a real, serious one — before he went nutso.
    Hell, he even sued to prevent the Reagan administration sending an ambassador to the Vatican, on First Amendment grounds, even though it didn't get anywhere.

    One theory — and I don't have a feel for whether or not it's true — is that getting disbarred pushed him over the edge. (He did get disbarred in Kansas in 1979, and avoided it for Federal practice with a plea deal where he promised to stop practicing, some years later.)

  7. Jdog  •  Sep 28, 2009 @6:08 am

    Orthogonally, while I'm thinking about it: I've had a little contact with the Freedom Riders / Patriot Guard folks, who have been quite legally and properly (IMHO, and all) interfering with the Phelps clan's harassment of fallen soldiers' families. One of the things that's really impressed me about these folks is how sensitive they are to the wishes and sensitivities of the families — they're always very careful to be sure that their presence is welcome, and that the families are okay with what they're doing.

1 Trackback