Federal Ban of Military Funeral Protests Proposed

Disgusted by the antics of the Westboro Baptist Church hate cult, US Representative Mike Rogers (R-MI) will introduce legislation that would prohibit protests an hour before or after a funeral and keep protesters at least five hundred feet away from family members of the deceased.

Rogers said his ban was crafted to thwart legal challenges and that the funeral protests cross the line:

“When you go to a funeral, it’s difficult enough to show up and pay your respects to someone who died for their country without getting jeered, taunted and harassed,” said Rogers, a Republican. “There’s a difference between free speech and hateful, harassing speech.”

Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) has introduced a similar bill in the Senate.

The Westboro Baptist Church is a cult of about 100 members, most of whom are related to the cult's founder Fred Phelps. They have been protesting at the funerals of fallen soldiers, claiming that their deaths are divine retribution for acceptance of homosexuals.

Brother Fred gets pwned (read the t-shirts)

Via Stop the ACLU.

Also posted at The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire.