I'm caught between free speech and celebration for the end of phelps!

[zestfive]

5 States Consider Bans On Protests at Funerals

Proposals Aimed at Anti-Gay Demonstrations

By Kari Lydersen

Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 30, 2006; Page A09

CHICAGO -- At least five Midwestern states are considering legislation
to
ban protests at funerals in response to demonstrations by the Rev. Fred
Phelps and members of his Topeka, Kan.-based Westboro Baptist Church,
who
have been protesting at funerals of Iraq war casualties because they
say the
deaths are God's punishment for U.S. tolerance toward gays.

Though the soldiers were not gay, the protesters say the deaths, as
well as
Hurricane Katrina, recent mining disasters and other tragedies are
God's
signs of displeasure. They also protested at the memorial service for
the 12
West Virginia miners who died in the Sago Mine.

"The families weren't able to bury their loved ones in peace," said
Kansas
state Sen. Jean Schodorf, who has proposed legislation. "We felt pretty
strongly that we needed to do something about it."

Kansas already has a law banning demonstrations at funerals, but
Schodorf
said the existing law is vague and hard to enforce. The proposed bill
would
keep protesters 300 feet away from any funeral or memorial service and
ban
demonstrations within one hour before or two hours after a service.

Legislators in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Oklahoma are looking at
similar bills. Proposed legislation in Indiana would keep protesters
500
feet from funerals, and make a violation a felony punishable by a
three-year
prison term and a $10,000 fine.

State Sen. Anita Bowser said she thinks the demonstrators are hoping to
provoke a physical attack so they can file a lawsuit.

"These people are not gainfully employed, so they're waiting for
someone to
do battle with them so they can go to court and win," said Bowser.
"They
want a big liability case to pursue. I don't think they actually give a
diddly wink about the arguments they're making, but they're clever
individuals trying to make a fast buck."

Shirley Phelps-Roper, Phelps's daughter and an attorney for the church,
said
if legislation passes, the group will challenge it in court. "Whatever
they
do would be unconstitutional," she said. "These aren't private
funerals;
these are patriotic pep rallies. Our goal is to call America an
abomination,
to help the nation connect the dots. You turn this nation over to the
fags
and our soldiers come home in body bags."

A motorcycle group called the Patriot Guard, made up mostly of
veterans, has
started attending funerals to act as a buffer between the protesters
and
family members.

"They'll chant and make snide remarks, they have all these signs that
say
'Thank God for dead soldiers,' 'Thank God for body bags,' " said
Patriot
Guard member Rich "Stretch" Strothman, a Wichita resident. "They'll
throw
the flag on the floor and wipe their feet on it. . . . We go under
request
from the families, we're not counter-protesters."

Ed Yohnka, communications director of the American Civil Liberties
Union of
Illinois, said the bills are troubling from a free speech perspective.
"We
have some concerns about the vagueness of the language," Yohnka said
about
the proposed Illinois bill. ". . . One of the things that concerns us
very
much is the degree to which the bill blocks access to people engaged in
political expression on public sidewalks. We think a 300-foot bubble is
excessive."

C 2006 The Washington Post Company

Comments

[zestfive.livejournal.com]

Yeah, pretty amazing !!!