What was this judge thinking when handing down this decision?
Lawyers for the father of a Marine from Maryland who died in Iraq and whose funeral was picketed by anti-gay protesters say a court has ordered him to pay the protesters' appeal costs.
Lawyers for Albert Snyder of York, Pa., also say he is struggling to come up with fees associated with filing a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court.
The high court agreed earlier this month to consider whether the protesters' message is protected by the First Amendment or limited by the competing privacy and religious rights of the mourners.
On Friday, Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ordered that Snyder pay costs associated with the Fred Phelps' appeal. Phelps is the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church, which conducted protests at Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder's funeral in 2006 in Westminster.
The funeral for Marine Lance Cpl. Snyder in Westminster was among many that have been picketed by members of the fundamentalist Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas. Westboro pastor Fred Phelps and other members have used the funeral protests to spread their belief that U.S. deaths in the Iraq war are punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.One of the signs at Snyder's funeral combined the U.S. Marine Corps motto with a slur against gay men.
CLICK HERE to learn more about The Al Snyder Fund. It's set up to help him out financially.
Read the rest of the AP article HERE.
You just can't make this stuff up.
More later.
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On what basis did this judge rule? What was he/she smoking?
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