Westboro Baptist Church blocked from protest.

[Bob Hubbard]

Good. Phelps is a scumbag.

Members of a small Missouri town banded together Saturday to block a controversial pastor and members of his Westboro Baptist Church from protesting the funeral of a fallen U.S. soldier, Fox4kc.com reports.
Hundreds of residents in Weston, Mo. -- as well as people as far away as California and Australia -- rallied in support of Sgt. First Class C.J. Sadell, who died from injuries suffered during a surprise attack in Afghanistan.
The residents sought to block Fred Phelps, leader of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., and his followers from picketing Sadell’s funeral, according to the station.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/11/0...s-picketing-soldiers-funeral/?test=latestnews

http://www.fox4kc.com/news/wdaf-cjs...-church-protest-110610,0,3649584.story?hpt=T2

 

[Bruno@MT]

Good. It is no secret that I am against the war in Iraq, but there is a time and a place to make a point. The funeral of a soldier is neither the time nor the place.

 

[Flea]

"We got everybody here early so we could take up all the parking spots," Rooney said. "We did that so Mr. Phelps wouldn't have a contingency that was really close."

This is a little nitpicky, but isn't this logic kind of flawed? Can't they just park on the opposite side of a tiny town and walk in?

None of which is to criticize the town's efforts. I think it's wonderful that the whole world came out to support a grieving family. It'll be interesting to see what the SCOTUS has to say.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

The courts have pretty much supported their right to peacefully protest. I agree with the courts.

Everyone has a right to be a piece of crap and show it off.

But I'm not aware of any case-law that says you have to make it easy for them. There may be laws in place that say 2 sides of a protest should remain x distance apart, which means if the counter protesters can get enough people, they can force the Westboro scumsuckers to remain quite a distance away from their target.

Yes, my opinion of Phelps and his cult of idiots is blatant. I make no apology for it.

Ok, wiki info:

Laws limiting funeral protests

In response to the protests conducted by Westboro members at Indiana funerals, a bill was introduced in the Indiana General Assembly that would make it a felony to protest within 500 feet (150 m) of a funeral. The bill provides penalties of up to three years in prison and a $10,000 fine for those found to be in violation of the law.

Shortly before this bill was signed members of the church had threatened to protest in Kokomo, Indiana, at a funeral service that was being held for a soldier who was killed in Iraq. On January 11, 2006 the bill unanimously (11–0) passed a committee vote,[70] and while members of the church had traveled to Kokomo to protest, they were not seen during or after the funeral service.

South Dakota adopted similar legislation. WBC has expressed its intention to contest such laws, and if victorious collect damages while the Phelps Chartered law firm collects attorney's fees under the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Award Act of 1976.
On May 23, 2006 the state of Michigan banned any intentional disruption of funerals within 500 feet (150 m) of the ceremony. Violating the statute would be a felony, punishable by up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine for the first offense and up to four years in prison and a $10,000 fine for a subsequent offense.[71]

On May 17, 2006 the state of Illinois enacted Senate Bill 1144, the "Let Them Rest In Peace Act", to shield grieving military families from protests during funerals and memorial services of fallen soldiers. A first-time violation of the Act is a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a $1,500 fine and a Class 4 felony for a second or subsequent offense, which is punishable by one to three years in state prison and a fine of up to $25,000.[72]

On May 29, 2006, President George W. Bush signed into law the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act (Pub.L. 109-228), prohibiting protests within 300 feet (91 m) of the entrance of any cemetery under control of the National Cemetery Administration from 60 minutes before to 60 minutes after a funeral.[73] Penalties for violating the act are up to $100,000 in fines and up to one year imprisonment.[73] The bill garnered overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress with a 408–3 vote in the House, with 21 not voting, and a unanimous vote in the Senate.[73]

USSC Case

On March 8, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Snyder v. Phelps, (Docket No. 09-751, March 8, 2010).[94] On May 28, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, joined by 42 other Senators, filed an amicus brief in support of Snyder with the Supreme Court. On June 1, Kansas Attorney General Stephen Six filed a separate brief supporting Snyder. This brief was joined by the Attorneys General of 47 other states and the District of Columbia, with Maine and Virginia being the two exceptions.[95][96]

Lots more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westboro_Baptist_Church

 

[Blade96]

Good. It is no secret that I am against the war in Iraq, but there is a time and a place to make a point. The funeral of a soldier is neither the time nor the place.

That, and get a life, WBC. Wtf have a fallen US soldier got to do with homosexuality anyways?

 

[WC_lun]

Living in Kansas City, which is close to where these people are from, I see these chuckleheads all the time. They have the right to protest and I agree with that. However, everyone else has the right to counter-protest. If the process of counter-protesting makes it more difficult for these Westboro idiots to take center stage, all the much better. As long as there is no violence or intimidation involved, I don't see a problem with it.

 

[Archangel M]

The USSC can't really do crap as long as it's not a government entity preventing the "protest".

 

[RandomPhantom700]

That, and get a life, WBC. Wtf have a fallen US soldier got to do with homosexuality anyways?

The straight answer is that neither has anything to do with the other, but fundamentalist whackos don't really need a logical reason for their actions. I don't even know enough about the cult to say whether they sincerely believe their reasons for protesting these funerals, or if they're just looking for an excuse to piss people off, gain more attention, and fish for more lawsuits. Either way, any civil response that doesn't feed into their twisted schema is fine by me.

 

[harold]

Cudos to that town and its citizens!!!!!!

 

[Blade96]

it also pisses me off that these douchenozzles hide under the amendments for what they do. If people can hide under amendments and the charter of rights (what we have) what cant they do? This is where I'd like to say, they can take amendments nd stuff and shove it where the sun dont shine. Up here the WBC are not only not allowed to protest, they arent even allowed into my country. They cant do something and use any 'charter'

 

[CoryKS]

Living in Kansas City, which is close to where these people are from, I see these chuckleheads all the time. They have the right to protest and I agree with that. However, everyone else has the right to counter-protest. If the process of counter-protesting makes it more difficult for these Westboro idiots to take center stage, all the much better. As long as there is no violence or intimidation involved, I don't see a problem with it.

I've never actually seen their live act, but an old girlfriend used to tell me that they were frequent visitors to Lawrence when she was at KU. I didn't think they were around the KC area much anymore since they went national.

 

[WC_lun]

Yeah, they make the short trip to KC occasionally to picket this or that or just to remind us there are ignorant people still in the world.

 

[CoryKS]

Yeah, they make the short trip to KC occasionally to picket this or that or just to remind us there are ignorant people still in the world.

I'm not sure the KC area needs that reminder.

 

[WC_lun]

I'm not sure the KC area needs that reminder.

LOL You have a solid point there