Lawmakers say they will try again even though federal judge threw out Missouri's funeral ban
Update, Monday Jan. 17, 2:10 p.m.:
Even though a federal judge recently tossed out Missouri's ban on funeral protests, lawmakers are again promising to find ways to block the demonstrations.
In August 2010, U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan declared unconstitutional two Missouri laws banning or restricting funeral protests.
Lawmakers say they plan to try again with proposals that balance free speech rights of protesters with the privacy concerns of family members attending a funeral.
The legislation targets Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka Kansas whose members demonstrate at funerals across the county. The group especially targets funerals of fallen military members. The church says the deaths are God's punishment for America tolerating homosexuality.
Lawmakers have sharply criticized funeral picketing and the protesters who conduct them. Of particular concern to the lawmakers is finding a way to shield mourning families from hateful comments and posters.
The posters often times carry the phrases ‘You're going to Hell,’ ‘God is your enemy,’ 'God hates you,' 'God hates fags,' 'Thank God for dead soldiers,' and 'God hates the U.S.A."
Lawmakers say the goal of any new legislation would be to keep demonstrators and mourners as far apart as possible.
Critics of the protest bans contend that the government cannot bar peaceful speech on a public sidewalk simply because it does not like the speaker's message.
This past week, the Arizona Legislature unanimously passed an emergency bill that restricted funeral protests after Westboro church members announced plans protest at the funerals of those killed in the Tucson shooting.
The U.S. Supreme Court, meanwhile, considered an appeal by the father of a Marine killed in Iraq to reinstate a $5 million verdict against protesters who picketed outside his son's funeral in Maryland. A federal appeals court had thrown out the verdict.
According to the Associated Press, court documents show the Westboro Baptist Church estimates that its members have held more than 42,000 pickets, including more than 500 at funerals.
(The Associated Press contributed to this story)
Update, Thursday Jan. 13, 1:10 p.m.:
The threat of a lawsuit has forced a northwest Missouri city to give up on trying to block the Westboro Baptist Church.
The St. Joseph City Council voted unanimously but reluctantly Wednesday to repeal an ordinance that limited protests at funerals.
The council had enacted the ordinance to stop members of Westboro Baptist Church from demonstrating at the funeral of a soldier.
After the ordinance went into effect, the American Civil Liberties Union sued the city, saying the ordinance violated the free speech rights of Westboro members.
Many citizens wanted the city to fight the lawsuit but the council had no choice but to repeal the law, said council member Joyce Starr.
Besides not being able to fight the lawsuit, Starr said the city's ordinance was modeled after a state law which was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge in August, 2010.
Starr told The St. Joseph News-Press that she worried that if a judge ruled against the city they would have to use tax payer dollars to pay damages.
While the city will no longer have an ordinance to block members of the Baptist Church from protesting at funerals, council members suggested that citizens use other creative yet peaceful ways to block the protesters.
One council member told the The St. Joseph News-Press that residents could use angel wings or balloons and stand in front of protesters.
Some have commented on my Facebook page that the media should ignore the Westboro protesters and never give them news coverage. What do you think? Would that stop them? Please let me know by commenting below.
(The Associated Press contributed to this story)
Original Story, Wednesday Jan. 12, 11:37 a.m.:
A Kansas church has decided to not protest at the funeral of a 9-year-old girl killed in a shooting rampage in Tucson, Ariz.
Shirley Phelps-Roper of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka says church members will skip Thursday's funeral of Christina Taylor Green in Tucson.
Phelps-Roper says the church decided against the picket in exchange for airtime with 102.1 The Edge in Toronto, Canada, and an interview with KXXT-AM in Phoenix, Ariz. on Saturday morning.
Phelps-Roper says the group will picket the Friday funeral of U.S. District Judge John Roll and at the intersection where Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and others were shot.
The Arizona Legislature unanimously passed a measure Tuesday banning protests at or near funeral sites.
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in October about whether the church has a right to picket at funerals. A decision is expected later this year.
In mid-Missouri, Westboro members visited Columbia a number of times to protest the city's ordinance that recognizes gay and lesbian couples. The group has also protested at Hickman High School in Columbia and at Stephens College in October 2009 because the shool was hosting a performance of the play "The Laramie Project," about a gay man who was beaten and left to die. Westboro's leader was portrayed in the play.
More recently, the church threatened to come to mid-Missouri to protest tornado victims' funerals. The church believes tragedies like the tornadoes that killed 6 people in Missouri are God’s punishment on Americans for accepting homosexuality.
In August 2010, Attorney General Chris Koster said he would appeal a federal judge's decision to block Missouri’s funeral protest law. Judge Fernando Guitan ruled in August that the 2006 Missouri law prohibiting demonstrations by groups like the Westboro Baptist Church violates the right of free speech.
"I think the vast majority of Americans believe the families of fallen heroes deserve to bury their dead with a measure of privacy and dignity that Reverend Phelps is not allowing them to have,” Attorney General Chris Koster said at the time.
Koster said the circuit judges ruling was based on a narrow interpretation of the first amendment by the eighth circuit court of appeals.
What do you think? Should the Westboro Baptist Church be allowed to protest at funerals?
(The Associated Press contributed to this story)