Boy, as if you needed another reason to hate the Westboro Baptist Church:

The father of a Marine whose funeral was picketed by the Westboro Baptist Church says an order to pay the protesters’ legal costs in a civil claim is nothing less than a “slap in the face.”

“By the court making this decision, they’re not only telling me that they’re taking their side, but I have to pay them money to do this to more soldiers and their families,” said Albert Snyder, whose son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, was killed in action in Iraq in 2006.

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday ordered that Snyder pay more than $16,000 in costs requested by Westboro for copies of motions, briefs and appendices, according to court documents.

In a motion filed in October, Snyder’s lawyer, who is representing him for free, asked the court to dismiss the bill of costs, or, alternatively, reduce the 50-cent fee per page or charge Snyder only for copies that were necessary to make their arguments on appeal.

Snyder’s family sued the church and went to trial in 2007 alleging privacy invasion, intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy. A jury awarded the family $2.9 million in compensatory damages plus $8 million in punitive damages, which were reduced to $5 million.

Westboro in 2008 appealed the case to the 4th District, which reversed the judgments a year later, siding with the church’s claims that its First Amendment rights had been violated.

“The protest was confined to a public area under supervision and regulation of local law enforcement and did not disrupt the church service,” the circuit court opinion said. “Although reasonable people may disagree about the appropriateness of the Phelps’ protest, this conduct simply does not satisfy the heavy burden required for the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress under Maryland law.”

I think the Westboro Baptist Church is chock-full of degenerate, hateful assholes who probably deserve to be thrown into a room filled with bee after their tongues are ripped out, their lips stapled together, and their mouths bound with thick scotch tape coated with honey.

And yet.

And yet I find myself agreeing with the Court’s ruling, as much as I want to disapprove of it. As disgusting as the Westboro Church’s behavior is, free speech and expression shouldn’t be limited by how offensive it is judged, or even intended, to be. Because, c’mon, let’s face it: they’re not protesting because they feel they have something to share, they just want to cause people pain and emotional distress.

But … provided there is no incitement of violence, don’t they have a right to express themselves in whatever hateful, bigoted, stupid way they so choose?

I don’t agree with how they protest. It’s absolutely disgusting and despicable to conduct themselves in the manner that they do, and I believe they do it not to forward their message, but to cause further grief to the loved ones of those who died in this country’s service. I honestly don’t know how they can sleep at night. That said, I think the concept of limiting where one can and cannot practice free speech (such as “free speech zones“) is kind of distressing. And by “kind of”, I mean “very.”

So, when I get home, I’m going to donate money to Patriot Guard Riders.