Anti-Gay Funeral Picketers Ordered To Pay $10.9 Milliion In Damages

A federal jury in Baltimore, Maryland yesterday awarded $10.9 million in damages in the civil lawsuit against the homophobic Westboro Baptist Church and its leaders who had been sued over their picketing of the funeral of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder. (See prior posting.) The Baltimore Sun and CNN report on the award to Snyder's father of $2.9 million in compensatory damages, followed by an award of $6 million in punitive damages for invasion of privacy and $2 million in punitive damages for causing him emotional distress. The award far exceeds the assets which defendants claim to have, though in closing arguments, plaintiff's attorney told jurors that they did not have to believe defendants' claims about their meager assets.