Bill increases restrictions on protests at soldiers’ funerals

[proud2BlibKansan]

A co-founder of the Patriot Guard on Friday praised a bill passed by Congress this week that would place new restrictions on members of Topeka’s Westboro Baptist Church who picket the funerals of fallen soldiers.

“If it’s something that will protect families that lose loved ones in the war, we’re all for that,” said Terry Houck, who founded the Patriot Guard with his wife, Carol, in 2005.

The guard has in the past parked its motorcycles between grieving family members and picketing Westboro Church members, serving as a flag-waving buffer between the groups.

The Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012, which is expected to be signed into law by President Obama, will impose new restrictions on funeral protesters by increasing the quiet time before and after military funerals, and increasing the size of the buffer zone between protesters and the entrance to a funeral. It also increases criminal and civil penalties on violators.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/08/04/3742570/bill-increases-restrictions-on.html#storylink=cpy

[NYC_SKP]

1. Shame that we have to legislate common sense respectful behavior of RW a-holes.

But they need to be regulated.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. Good luck. Topeka and the state of Kansas have been trying to reign them in for years.

Years ago, the ACLU director here told me he had nightmares about that call from the Phelps coming in to his office. They've appealed and won every law proposed in both KS and MO to restrict them. But now they're up against the feds. Hopefully this law will stick.