Judge Slashes Damages Phleps Clan Must Pay

[davidinalameda]

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon08/02/020408phelps.htm

A federal judge on Monday upheld a jury verdict that found the Rev. Fred Phelps and his two daughters, Shirley Phelps-Roper and Rebecca Phelps-Davis, had invaded privacy with intent to inflict emotional distress on the father of a Marine whose funeral Phelp's Westoboro Church had picketed.

But U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett chopped the $10 million verdict award to Albert Snyder in half.

Snyder sued Phelps and his Topeka, Kan.-based church after church members demonstrated at the funeral of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder in 2006 in Maryland, and then posted pictures of the protest on their Web site.

The protestors claimed that the war in Iraq is a punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.

[rpannier]

1. Not surprising he cut it

That's fairly typical.

I would have thought he'd have cut it by more than a half.

To be honest, I have mixed feelings about the verdict as it could be used by others to silent any protest they don't like.

Call someone a murderer (like DUH-bya) and you're suddenly being sued for millions.

While it's unlikely, it's not impossible.