furrier ordered to pay $97k

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Schumachers ordered to pay $97,000 in protesters' legal fees

 

January 25, 2008 14:44PM

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

 

 

 

Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.

Confucius