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[porthole]

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/HarleyDavidsonFirefighters/message/11219?l=1

[RJ749]

Couldn't get to the message as it is in the Firefighter group on Yahoo.

Any chance you can just paste it?

[porthole]

sorry 'bout that

News  
06/05/2006  14:30:53 EST Marine's Father Sues Funeral Protesters



GREENBELT, Md. - The father of a Marine whose funeral was picketed by anti-gay protesters from a fundamentalist Kansas church filed an invasion-of-privacy suit against the demonstrators Monday.
It is believed to be the first lawsuit brought by a soldier's family against Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., whose members routinely demonstrate at military funerals around the country.

Albert Snyder of York, Pa., the father of Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder, is seeking unspecified damages. The younger Snyder, 20, died March 3 after an accident in the Al Anbar province of Iraq. He was buried in Westminster, Md.

"We think it's a case we can win because anyone's funeral is private," Snyder lawyer Sean Summers said. "You don't have a right to interrupt someone's private funeral."

Members of Westboro say the military deaths in Iraq are God's punishment for America's tolerance of gays. They typically carry signs with slogans such as "God Hates s" and "Thank God for IEDs," a reference to the roadside bombs used by insurgents.

The church has inspired dozens of state laws banning funeral protests, including a Maryland law that did not go into effect until after Snyder's memorial.

Shirley Phelps-Roper, a spokeswoman for the small congregation, said it is the first time Westboro has been sued by a soldier's family.

"We were exercising our First Amendment rights," she said.

___

On the Net:

Family Web site: http://www.matthewsnyder.org

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/14728726.htm


 

[EZRIDN]

I sincerely hope the family comes out on top with this one.  

I'm a member of the PGR and we have seen too many "missions" around the plains states lately...all states actually.  Maybe a few more lawsuits will end this bullsh*t once and for all.

[Fired00d]

Outstanding!!!! That's exactly what Westboro Baptist Church deserves. [smiley=xyxthumbs.gif]

 [smiley=pumpkin.gif]
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 [smiley=fireman.gif]

[SEULTRA]

Outstanding!!!! That's exactly what Westboro Baptist Church deserves. [smiley=xyxthumbs.gif]

 [smiley=pumpkin.gif]
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 [smiley=fireman.gif]

I believe they need to experience the kind of pain & suffering they inflict on others... it would help them gain perspective and understanding.  

[RJ749]

Good for the family.  I thought that on Memorial Day GW signed a bill that made it illegal to protest at military funerals.

Actually, I decided while writing this to look it up and he did sign it into law, here it is:  The new law bars protests within 300 feet of the entrance of a national cemetery and within 150 feet of a road into the cemetery. This restriction applies an hour before until an hour after a funeral. Those violating the act would face up to a $100,000 fine and up to a year in prison.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/05/images/20060529_p052906pm-0324-515h.html

[SPIDERMAN]

How sad we must pass laws to enforce common decency and civility. I do not believe that even at the height of the anti-VietNam protests, anyone so much as considered protesting the funeral of a serviceman or woman who died in Nam. What is happening to our country that breeds such hatred and comtempt ? Where does it end ? Must we pass a law for every facet of public and private behavior ? The issue of the lawsuit mentioned in an above post is also a cruel irony. Much has been said about lawyers and the lawsuits they file and yet here is an example of one such lawsuit that could well end up being decided by the US Supreme Court. Basically the right of privacy against the right of free speach. Common sense tells us privacy should win the day, but what does someone who decides cases on the merits of the law as opposed to interpretation as both Chief Justice Roberts and Associate Justice Alito have told us will be their intent ? One would think the conservative idealism would lend itself to protection of the rights of privacy but recent headlines would suggest that the conservative courts do not have any respect for those rights. Given the precendent involved it is reasonable to assume a ruling against the privacy side of this issue to protect future rulings on other issues from being challenged on that basis. Which brings me back to my original question. What the hell is happening in the country that we have to pass laws to enforce common decency and civility ? This issues is far larger than simply a bunch of hateful religious zealots disrupting funerals. It is a snapshot of a far larger issue within our society today. In my opinion, that issue is that we have become a nation of me firsts. A place where everyone's individual freedoms trump the common good of all. The real issue is do we correct this by passing a law for every type of aberant behaviour or do we actually remove some of the protections these people enjoy so that we can as a society correct the aberance on our own. 100 years ago, these people would have been beaten senseless by those in attendance at the funeral. No court in the land would have convicted those involved in the beatings much less even agreed to hear the case. Are we truly advancing civilization with the passage of law after law dictating personal behavior ? This issue and the new law being signed by President Bush in the photo above is the bastard child of the hate crimes law in my book. A law passed for semingly good intentions spawns one which shouldn't even be needed. How so say you ? Ok, say I cannot contain myself and I decided the beat the snot out of one of these religious jackasses. Well I'm sure at some point in the heat of the moment, I'm gonna curse the SOB for being a religious jackass which then makes my action a hate crime. See my point, If we didn't have the hate crimes law then I could beat these idiots if I so chose and the courts could then decide based on laws of our founding fathers if I truly had the right to protect my family and myself from intrusions of privacy during our time of grief. We need to look back for the answers to the ills of our society and not forward.

[RJ749]

There is no question we are overwhelmed in today's litigous society with laws that counter other laws which intend to enforce a particualr behavior or protect another.

I saw a commercial last night that showed a person doing something nice for another which was witnessed by a third and then the witness doing something witnessed by a fourth and so on.

Unfortunately it spoke to a behavior which was common place 20 years ago and has gone by the wayside in current culture.  Sure some folks treat others with repect and go out of the way to help with the simplest of things, but most are just too busy with their own life to slow down enough to pick up a book dropped by another for example.

Things have changed and in many if not most cases not for the better in any way.

I feel your frustration Spidey, but it is what it is and unless an act of kindness, respect etc. is returned with another as in "pay it forward" I imagine things will continue to deteriorate.

So as Spidey started out "How sad we must pass laws to enforce common decency and civility."

[SEULTRA]

Someone once said "The effort expended to be rude or polite may be equal but it's the outcome that defines the exchange"

[Fired00d]

......The new law bars protests within 300 feet of the entrance of a national cemetery and within 150 feet of a road into the cemetery. This restriction applies an hour before until an hour after a funeral. Those violating the act would face up to a $100,000 fine and up to a year in prison.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/05/images/20060529_p052906pm-0324-515h.html

I think the key word is "National Cemetery" ie: Arlington National Cemetery and others like that. I think local/private cemeteries aren't covered under this law. Which I think it should be inclusive of any and all cemeteries.

 [smiley=pumpkin.gif]
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 [smiley=fireman.gif]

[SPIDERMAN]

There is a difference between a criminal and an outlaw. A criminal does not know or care between right and wrong, nor have regard for the laws of society. An outlaw is very much aware of the law, but makes a concious decision to live his life based on right and wrong. Yes, there are those who excuse criminal behaviour by calling themselves outlaws, but there are more who choose to follow the path of their own code of conduct rather than succumb to society's conventions. Americans have always held a great fascination for outlaws and had little tolerance for criminals. I would suggest we would all do well to explore the boundaries of our own existence at times and perhaps live the outlaw life when the situation called for common sense over the rule of law. I would suggest we stand up for what we hold dear vice allowing our timidity to bind us with senseless laws.