Two members of the gay-bashing Westboro Baptist Church have failed to post bonds in time and are appealing to a higher court to delay doing so.
U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett last month ordered Shirley Phelps-Roper to post a $125,000 cash bond and Rebekah Phelps-Davis to post a $100,000 cash bond within 30 days.
A Baltimore jury found the sisters, their father, Fred Phelps, and his church responsible for intentional infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy after they picketed a Marine?s Westminster funeral with signs that read, “You?re going to Hell” and “God hates the U.S.A.”
They were ordered to pay Albert Snyder, father of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, $10.9 million, but Bennett cut that amount to $5 million.
Phelps-Roper and Phelps-Davis filed a motion Monday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond, Va., to delay paying the judgment and avoid posting a bond.
“The cash bond amount is prohibitive, is in an amount that these defendants cannot post, is not supported by financial evidence submitted by defendants and is unreasonable given the significant First Amendment, jurisdictional and punitive damages issues raised by this appeal,” according to the appeal brief.
Phelps-Roper has nine children and will earn about $15,000 as a part-time lawyer this year; Phelps-Davis has four children and will earn about $55,000 this year as a lawyer, according to the brief.
“Given the modest means of these defendants, $125,000 is as prohibitive as $10.9 million,” the brief states.
