News
2006-08-30
Noted First
Amendment attorney hired by Fred Phelps
The antigay
reverend Fred Phelps, whose congregation has been protesting
at military funerals, has hired a Maryland attorney who
The antigay
reverend Fred Phelps, whose congregation has been protesting
at military funerals, has hired a Maryland attorney who
specializes in First Amendment cases to defend him
against a defamation lawsuit by the father of a slain
marine.
Albert Snyder, of
York, Pa., sued Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church
after church members demonstrated at the funeral of his son,
Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, and posted pictures of the
protest on their Web site. Lance Corporal Snyder was
killed in March. Church members maintain that military
casualties in Iraq are God's punishment for America's
tolerance of homosexuality.
Snyder's lawsuit,
filed June 5, alleges that church members violated the
family's right to privacy and defamed the marine and his
family at the funeral and on the church's Web site.
Phelps has denied any wrongdoing.
The church has
hired Jonathan Katz, a Silver Spring lawyer, to represent
it, The Baltimore Examiner reported Tuesday.
"Defamation lawsuits are totally incompatible with the First
Amendment," Katz told the paper. "I represent people from
the far left and far right and everyone in between."
The case had been
stalled for several weeks while Snyder's attorneys
sought without success to serve notice of the suit on the
church and its members. Sean Summers, one of the
lawyers representing Snyder, said he is glad the
church has hired an attorney so the case can move forward.
(AP)
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