Illinois Expanding Ban On Military Funeral Protests

Though similar measures have been ruled unconstitutional by federal judges, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn said he will sign a bill that bans protests near military funerals on Sunday.

The "Let Them Rest In Peace Act" targets groups such as the Westboro Baptist Church, which hold signs that say "Thank God for Dead Soldiers," near military funerals and blame the tolerance of homosexuality for the loss of American lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Kane County Chronicle reports that House Bill 180, which Quinn is expected to sign at the Illinois state fair, "expands the perimeter of privacy protecting grieving families from protesters to 300 feet from 200 feet" and also bans protests 30 minutes before and after a funeral service.

The Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act, which was signed by former President George W. Bush in 2006, bans such protests outside of national cemeteries, and the U.S. Senate took steps to expand that protection to all cemeteries this spring. The constitutionality of the laws, however, have been debated.

In 2010, a federal judge in Missouri tossed the state's military funeral protest ban, saying it violated the First Amendment. And while the American Civil Liberties Union does not defend the Westboro Baptist Church's message, it has defended them in court.

“The problem is, in this instance, that this is essentially a ban on images and words that folks like the Westboro Baptist Church use when they protest across the street from funerals,” ACLU spokesman Ed Yohnka told the Kane County Chronicle. “We believe it is an erroneous interpretation of the ‘fighting words’ doctrine.”

The initial ban on such protests in Illinois was signed into law by former Governor Rod Blagojevich in 2006, and the bill Quinn plans to sign Sunday will expand the existing legislation, according to the Associated Press.

The measure has bipartisan support, and support from veterans and military families.

"We have all seen the shameful protests of hate groups seeking to disrupt and derail the funerals of soldiers and other high-profile individuals, and as someone who has served our country and served alongside those who made the ultimate sacrifice, I cannot think of anything more despicable," State Rep. Jerry Costello II told STL Today last week.

Comments

[Cam Brunner]

12:29 AM on 08/16/2011

This is not a church, this is a hate group. Westboro Baptist Church spreads its hate through picketing in our streets, provoking attacks, with abusive language and flag desecration, attempting to create a confrontation. This is not about protesting, freedom, or God. They are in it for the money and the press; this is a family law firm. They are not a "church." It is a scam. They go after anything that can get them in the news. This is a family of lawyers using this “god hates you” thing to make money. Yes, it is a scam.

[DREGstudios]

07:16 PM on 08/15/2011

I think they should ban the protesting. It’s more of a freedom to organize issue than a freedom of speech issue. Anyone with common decency would agree it’s wrong. What are Fred Phelps and the WBC afraid of anyhow? Rainbows? Unicorns? A flaming pink queer apocalypse? I attempted to address this with a portrait of the good reverend on my artist’s blog at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2011/03/fred-phelps-and-westboro-baptist-church.html Drop in and let me know what you think!

[klbrz]

05:41 PM on 08/15/2011

I haven't understood the reasoning for allowing this to go on. It would seem to me that a funeral is essentially a private affair that, of necessity, must be held in a public place, since they won't let us bury our loved ones in our back yards.

[Bill J4321]

04:07 PM on 08/15/2011

Are they going to carve out the usual 'gay exception' to America's laws to be sure that the dead GAY soldiers who return from defending the rights they are excluded from can be publicly degraded and dehumanized one more time before they are buried?

I can only wonder if theses protests would be found so offensive by Americans if it were ACTUAL gay soldiers and their families suffering the abuse of these protests.

[conundrum4u]

04:20 AM on 08/15/2011

I'm not sure I am clear on this - you can ban protests from a national cemetery ie:gov't - but you can ban it from a public cemetery??? what really is the difference - the gov't can ban the "freedom" of speech - but the "public" can't? WTF?

[windmillchaser]

02:58 AM on 08/15/2011

You know moderators are nice but its becoming more and more of a hassle to post things any more. I will analyze where I post from now on. The post should be immediate then if something is wrong tag it and look at it. This is a form of pre censor ship. I have run into at least three other publications in the press that are doing pre screenings, all three which I have dropped. I encourage any one else think twice about posting to a moderated comment area.

[windmillchaser]

02:55 AM on 08/15/2011

Why don't we have a navy seal team protest at their church? I am sure they would not mind freedom of speech that they so wonderfully espouse.

[AMlegion]

08:50 AM on 08/15/2011

Outstanding response. Lets put 150 protesting Marines in their church when there praing. Lets make a point. Park a Tank on their front door.

[boomcat44]

01:25 PM on 08/15/2011

I don't have a problem with that at all.

[himaui]

01:54 AM on 08/15/2011

thank you, governor quinn. this is a good one.

[ray christl]

02:57 AM on 08/15/2011

Political pandering before they throw the stupid law out. Free speech is sacrosanct.

[mather1]

12:35 AM on 08/15/2011

weren't they headed to the netherlands to protest all of the kids that were killed. didn't here anything more on that

[mmcgrew]

01:20 AM on 08/15/2011

Funding issues?

[mmcgrew]

01:20 AM on 08/15/2011

One hopes.......

[flinkmeister]

11:48 PM on 08/14/2011

Unfortunately, free speech comes at a cost

[mmcgrew]

01:19 AM on 08/15/2011

Talk about torn.........Free speech is SO important, but.....

Phelps was protesting a GLAAD dinnner I went to and we just waved flutes of champagne at them. Seemed the best response.

That rag-tag group in front of the Century Plaza Hotel, with us dressed to the 9s. Kind of sad for them.......I think there were 18 people.

As you might guess, no police were taken from their serious duties in Beverly Hills......... hotel security was up to the task of keeping the riff-raff FAR away.

We could only hear them if we went outside to smoke....FAR away....

FYI, I was a guest, I'm nobody in that crowd............but FU@K it was fun to see Phelps and company held at bay by CIA-Looking men in black suits...to protect the Gay Elite of Hollywood. It ROCKED.

[V7SNU]

11:35 PM on 08/14/2011

The best thing this group does is proving to witnesses not only their dyer need for attention but to prove a fundamental point on just how absurd religion is.

[JFaye]

12:22 AM on 08/15/2011

This group demonstrates more the absurdity of ignorance and intolerance. Religion and spirituality has served mankind well and mankind has served religion well.

[mmcgrew]

01:23 AM on 08/15/2011

Religion......well "religious" people....... have cut both ways since the dawn of man. Often good, but just as often horrible to society.

BUT, if my Mother asks, I'm Lutheran.

[Nikk Neurosis]

11:29 PM on 08/14/2011

I'd like to see an alternate group set up that does nothing but protest the WBC protestors. They're literally like a tiny cult of interrelated hillbillies so it wouldn't be hard. This group could protest their services every Sunday, their childrens' first day of school, the weddings they have, birthdays, etc. Just make it hell to be a member. Give 'em a taste of their own medicine. It'd be extra ironic if it were another church. Where my Catholics at?! Haha.

[ifihadlegs]

11:42 PM on 08/14/2011

Most of there protests are met with far larger counter protests.

[NotReallyHere]

06:58 PM on 08/15/2011

Did you see the pictures from their protest at Comic Con last year?

[moonflowerjewelry]

11:19 PM on 08/14/2011

The gay community has been peacefully battling the Phelpsians since (at least) Matthew Shephard's funeral in 1998, keeping them far away from the goal of disrupting ceremonies (and gay pride parades and so forth). Isn't it time that the IRS examine whether or not their activities abuse their non-profit status?

[JFaye]

12:23 AM on 08/15/2011

Great observation... Why hasn't there been a challenge to their non-profit status as a church group?

[mmcgrew]

01:25 AM on 08/15/2011

SO tough to do, all churches seem to form a circle to protect that tax-free status...........but I'm with you.

[TXanimal]

01:23 PM on 08/15/2011

It's a catch-22. Churches can use their tax-exempt status to fund/support all kinds of anti-American activities, but the government sees taxing them as a violation of the Second Amendment. It's the ultimate testament to the principle of separation of church and state...too bad some fundies take advantage of that.

[notakochdealer]

11:18 PM on 08/14/2011

Why is our government letting this go on and why in the h e ll is the media covering this? I 'm not reading or commenting on anything that has Westboro Baptist Church. Good for the governor of Ill. I hope never agree congress sees how grownups deal with disgustingly thoughtless individuals.

[ovtomato]

11:46 PM on 08/14/2011

wtf ??? Try English. You make absolutely no sense. Maybe you should sober up before you post.

[Watching rock grow]

02:20 PM on 08/15/2011

The last sentence is missing a couple of words. Making it alone a little hard to understand on a quick pass through read. However, overall on the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level and Flesch Reading Ease it rates a 7.1 grade with 66.7 reading ease if you passed 6th grade.

[notakochdealer]

05:49 PM on 08/16/2011

Was trying not to get filtered. P.S. I don't drink. What I was saying is was what the Westboro Baptist Church does is criminal and why our do-nothing government allows this is wrong.

[Sister Bluebird]

10:57 PM on 08/14/2011

No one should be protesting anyone's funeral. That is just way beyond the boundaries of good taste or even bad taste. For Keerist's sake people, they are already dead. Funerals are the comfort the living.

If you really want to protest gays in the military then go picket a military base.

The fact that the WBC uses the grief and sadness of families as a means to shock the public. They are parasites. Protesting is good. But protesting a funeral, disrupting weddings, or any religious or spiritual service is violating the civil rights and the privacy of the people involved in those services.

[TXanimal]

01:24 PM on 08/15/2011

Right on. Just because you CAN say something doesn't mean you SHOULD say something...