Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Would A New Law Stop Military Funeral Protesters?


The Westboro Baptist Church, based in Topeka, Kansas, has succeeded in attracting plenty of attention by holding prominent protests at the funerals of fallen U.S. military soldiers and Marines.

In March, they scored a big legal victory when the Supreme Court decided in an eight to one ruling that the First Amendment protects Westboro members, and that their speech cannot be restricted simply because “it is upsetting or arouses contempt.”

Now a bipartisan coalition of U.S. Senators is stepping into the fray, proposing legislation that will set boundaries for those seeking to disrupt military funerals.

The SERVE Act would ban disruptive noise for a period of two hours before and after the funeral, and create a 300 foot buffer around the funeral services.

“Families of military servicemen and women should have the right, the ability to lay their loved ones to rest with dignity and peace,” Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla., one of the bill’s sponsors says. Rubio predicts swift passage of the measure, adding, “I can’t imagine anyone being against it, at least no one in their right mind.”

6 comments:

bkln said...

If that was a family member of mine who died and these idiots showed up see what would happen...

Unknown said...

This Law would be great however, once the democrats and the ACLU get their hands on it, it will be destroyed. Since this would apparently violate the "Freedoms" of the protestors. The ironic part is that these scumbags have used the same bill of rights provided by the Armed Forces they slander, to protect them and allow them to do so... The best part? The old man who started this cult, was actually accepted to West Point years ago...

Anonymous said...

Protests should not be allowed at anyone's funeral, especially a military one.

Anonymous said...

yeah they tried this mess in seaford and got chased off by veteran bikers
legal or not this type of hate mongering behavior is reprehensible
beliefs are just that and they are yours too keep to yourself and not disrupt the private and personal lives of others
it is no different than Islamic Extremism

Anonymous said...

veteran bikers. lol. love the words some people make up.

Anonymous said...

I'm pretty sure they meant bikers who are veterans. That's what most of the Patriot Guard consists of, is veterans.