Fred Phelps Going Down?

A federal judge in Maryland on Thursday ordered liens on the Westboro Baptist Church building and the Phelps-Chartered Law office.

If the case presided over by U.S. District Court Judge Richard D. Bennett is upheld by an appeals court, the church, at 3701 S.W. 12th, and the office building, at 1414 S.W. Topeka Blvd., could be obtained by the court and sold, with the proceeds being applied toward $5 million in damages Bennett imposed on church members for picketing a military funeral.

A lien is a legal hold on property, making it collateral against money owed to a person or entity. It can keep the owner from selling the property or transferring title to the property.

The $5 million penalty is the result of a lawsuit filed against three of the church's principals by Albert Snyder, the father of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder, whose funeral was picketed by church members.

The senior Snyder contended the picketing caused emotional distress and invasion of privacy.

Westboro Baptist members regularly picket funerals of members of the U.S. armed forces, contending the deaths are God's punishment for the country's support of homosexuals.

One of Snyder's attorneys, Sean Summers, of York, Pa., said Thursday that based on financial information supplied during a hearing on the case, paying the $5 million penalty likely would force the church and the three named officials of the church to file for bankruptcy.

However, he said, even bankruptcy wouldn't let them out from under the $2.1 million punitive damages part of the judge's order. They would still be obligated for that amount under federal bankruptcy rules.

A jury awarded Snyder compensatory damage of $2.9 million and punitive damage of $8 million. But the judge on Feb. 4 reduced the punitive damage to $2.1 million, for a total judgment of $5 million.

In addition, the judge on Thursday required Shirley Phelps-Roper to post a $125,000 bond and Rebekah Phelps-Davis to post a $100,000 bond by May 5 or he will rescind a stay ordered by the court to prevent confiscation of their property.

But Phelps-Roper, an attorney, called that meaningless. She said the only property she and Phelps-Davis own are their homes and courts are forbidden from confiscating a person's home.

"I have nothing at risk," she said.

In February, Bennett ordered Phelps-Roper, Phelps-Davis and their father, Pastor Fred W. Phelps Sr., to provide detailed financial information about their interests.

The records showed the church property to be worth $442,800 and the law office building to be worth $233,000. Summers said the lien could be placed on the law office building because it is owned by Phelps Sr.

"He (the judge) looked at my tax returns and saw that we give money to the church, and he didn't like that," Phelps-Roper said.

She said there has been a lot of misinformation about the church and the Phelps family being wealthy. She said there was even a rumor that her father owned a "summer home."

She said that came from a humorous answering machine message that said, "This is the Phelps family summer home — some are home and some are not."

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