Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Supreme Court Sidesteps Anti-Gay Church Motion


The US Supreme Court has decided not to get involved in an ongoing legal battle between followers of the Rev. Fred Phelps and the family of a Marine killed in Iraq.

Attorney's for the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church had asked the high court to intervene to block a multi-million dollar judgment handed down in Maryland. The church also has appealed to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Earlier this month U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett upheld a jury verdict that found 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 the Marine whose funeral Phelp's Westoboro Church had picketed.

But Bennett chopped the $10 million verdict award to Albert Snyder in half.

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