Slain Marine's dad getting court cost help
Posted: Thursday, April 1, 2010 12:01 am | Updated: 11:58 pm, Wed Mar 31, 2010.
By S. Wayne Carter Jr. Times Staff Writer
Veteran organizations and residents have responded in a big way to reports that the father of a Marine killed in Iraq was ordered to pay the legal costs of the fundamentalist church that protested his son's funeral.
Albert Snyder, of York, Pa., is suing Westboro Baptist Church and its founder, Fred Phelps, whose members picketed the Westminster funeral of his son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, of Finksburg, in 2006.
The Topeka, Kan.-based church contends U.S. military deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan are God's punishment for tolerance of homosexuality.
Snyder sued Phelps, his daughters Shirley Phelps-Roper and Rebecca Phelps-Davis, and the church and won a verdict of more than $11 million for emotional distress and invasion of privacy in October 2007. The judge reduced the amount to $5 million, but a federal appeals court threw out the verdict altogether. The court said the signs contained "imaginative and hyperbolic rhetoric" protected by the First Amendment.
On March 26, the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Maryland ordered Snyder to pay $16,510 in appeal costs to Phelps.
Attorneys for Snyder said more than 4,000 donations to help offset his legal fees were received the past two days through the Web site www.matthewsnyder.org. Donations exceeding legal costs will benefit veterans returning from war in the form of a scholarship, according to the site.
A Facebook page called "I support Al Snyder in His fight against Westboro Baptist Church" with links to the site had drawn more than 35,000 fans by Wednesday afternoon.
The American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars are also asking people to donate.
"Like most Americans, we were outraged when we heard about this," said American Legion spokesman John Raughter. "It's outrageous that this cult, I won't even call them a church, would protest outside any funeral, let alone those of our military heroes."
Nearly $8,000 had been collected in about 24 hours by the organization, said its New Media Manager Mark Seavey. He said he expects thousands more in donations when the Legion sends out its weekly e-mail newsletter today, which reaches about 250,000 people.
"Of all the things [Snyder] has to worry about right now, we're going to make sure money isn't one of them," Seavey said.
The VFW national headquarters issued a press release Wednesday expressing outrage with the appellate court's decision.
"This is a travesty at best and borders on the obscene," said VFW National Commander Thomas J. Tradewell Sr. in the release. "The irony in this whole situation is that the blood and sacrifice of our nation's heroes have enabled this group to spread their message of hate. Yet, they celebrate when one of America's best pays the ultimate sacrifice preserving that right of free speech."
Tradewell goes on to say the VFW national headquarters will be making a donation to the fund and asked the more than 1.5 million members of the VFW to do what they can to assist Snyder, even something as small as taking time to write a note of support.
Several Internet reports stated Bill O'Reilly, a Fox News host, has offered to pay for the costs associated with the appeal; however, Snyder's attorneys could not confirm this Wednesday.
One of Snyder's attorneys, Craig Trebilcock, said Wednesday there was a similar motion at the district court level ordering Snyder to pay appeal costs that has yet to be ruled on.
"Nothing is owned until the court says it is," Trebilcock said.
<A HREF=http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/news/local/article_e1aabc86-3d3f-11df-b25d-001cc4c03286.htmll">Carroll County Times: Slain Marine's dad getting court cost help</A>
