Westboro Baptist Church fined $11 million

Blather.net favourites the Westboro Baptist Church have been fined [Dr. Evil voice] 11 million dollars - compensation to be paid to the family of Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder, whose funeral 'the church' [slaps hand off thigh, wipes away tears of laughter] protested outside last year.

A Baltimore federal jury awarded Mr Snyder a total of $10.9m (£5.2m) after ruling that the group had violated the family's privacy and intentionally inflicted emotional distress.

The church's leaders reacted defiantly to the verdict, saying it was "an act in futility", and pledged to continue to picket military funerals.

The church's legal team had argued that the burial was a public event and that the protests were protected by the first amendment of the US constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and religion.

Fred Phelps, the church's figurehead, said he was confident the verdict would be overturned on appeal.

"Oh, it will take about five minutes to get that thing reversed," he said. The assets of the church and its three leaders are less than $1 million.

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