Comments on Judge Places Lien on Westboro Baptist Church

I somehow KNEW that the building would be fake Tudor, and that their sign would be a crappy BANNER. Ugh.

Fantastic news! Next step is for the lienholders' lawyer to knock out a Complaint for judicial foreclosure, which is pretty simple.

And god smiled.

Holy Shit.

Am I the only one bothered by this verdict? As much as I despise Phelps, a $5M verdict for exercising free speech rights is bullshit. (And the first person who claims that "hate speech isn't free speech" will get smacked with a rolled up copy of the Constitution.)

Hate speech exercised within a few feet of grieving relatives, for the SOLE PURPOSE of inciting attention-garnering violence, isn't free speech. It's abuse. It can be banned for the same reason that standing outside my house shouting obscenities at me at 3 AM can be banned. It's fucking ASSAULT.

YAY!!

i feel...born again. is it wrong that i want to see them penniless and homeless?

it is satisfying. these people clearly crossed a line, and they were too crazy and self-righteous to notice it. when they go bankrupt, that, by their own twisted "logic" will be proof that god hates them.

@6

Don't redefine words to make your argument. Nothing in the Constitution allows the government to regulate "hate speech", nor is "hate speech" an assault in the legal sense. Sure, municipalities can regulate the volume of free speech and (to some extent) the location, but not the content. Phelps & Co. were being assholes, but their civil or criminal liability should not extend beyond a noise ordinance or disturbing the peace citation.

I'd like to see Phelps bankrupted as much as anybody else here would, but not at the expense of my Constitutionally-protected rights.

@10

See Article III, Section 2. The Constitution isn't self-interpreting.

It IS assault, fool. You can't stand in front of people and say "gimme all your money" either. Lots of "speech" is restricted when it harms others.

If you have never heard the song Westboro Baptist Church, by Portland songwriter Michael Dean Damron (written for his last band I Can Lick Any SOB In The House) then you must go to iTunes or wherever you can and download it immediately. You'll feel even better...

The Lord works in mysterious ways...