Schumaker's ordered to pay $97K legal fees to AR Protesters

January 26, 2008

A federal judge has ordered one of Portland's last furriers to pay

nearly $97,000 in legal fees to the animal-rights protesters he has

accused of destroying his family business.

U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman ordered Gregg Schumacher and

Schumacher Furs & Outerwear to cover $43,186 in legal fees to People

for the Ethical Treatment of Animals; $34,735 to In Defense of

Animals; and $18,950 to protester Kevin Mieras, court records show.

Schumacher and his wife Linda sued animal-rights protesters for a

relentless campaign of Saturday protests that the couple maintains

stepped over the bounds of free speech into crimes and violations of

city ordinances.

But Mosman threw out such claims in a series of rulings last year.

This week, he signed an order compelling the Schumachers to pay the

protesters' legal fees in the case.

In his order, Mosman called the facts of the case " extraordinary " but

said the Schumachers had abused the legal process.

" Although the (Schumachers) may have had meritorious claims against

people whose names they did not know, or even against the City of

Portland, " Mosman wrote, " they sued people against whom they had no

evidence for $6.6 million, sought to restrict their First Amendment

rights, and disparaged their reputations with accusations of criminal

conduct, terrorist affiliations and responsibility for 'shutting down'

a business whose financial solvency was questionable before the

protesting activities began. "

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, one of the nation's most

influential animal-rights organizations, hailed the decision.

" The court's decision is a victory for the First Amendment -- and for

animals, who rely on groups like PETA to convey their pain and protest

their slaughter for fur, " the organization's legal counsel, Bonnie

Robson said in a prepared statement released Friday.

" The judge stopped the Schumachers' scheme to silence anti-fur critics

and ordered the furriers to pay PETA's attorney fees. "

Neither the Schumachers nor their lead attorney, Herb Grey, could

immediately be reached for comment.

Article posted for Shannon Morgan. Margaret

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