Sticky Situation

Albert Snyder is the father of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed while serving in Iraq in 2006. Cpl. Snyder's funeral was picketed by the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas. Members of the so-called "God Hates Fags" church picket military funerals, because they believe U.S. soldiers are complicit in America's tolerance of homosexuals. Or something like that. These people are batshit crazy. (Evidence: At least one of them likes The Bee Gees.) Albert Snyder sued the church for invasion of privacy and won. But the case was overturned on appeal, citing the church members' right to picket a funeral under the First Amendment. In addition to this ruling, Snyder has also been ordered to cover the church's legal costs of $16,000. It's pretty standard for the losing plaintiff to be ordered to cover a defendant's legal fees, but this isn't an ordinary case. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear it, so all of this could be moot pending their decision. Personally, I don't know what to think. On one hand, freedom of speech is only as valuable as the protection it affords to the most heinous types of speech. On the other, these church members are evil dickholes. But if the Snyder family do end up having to bear these costs, it might be worth your while to visit MatthewSnyder.org and donate some cash to help them out. I can't imagine the world will leave them high and dry on this, but any support probably helps. More details here.