Illinois mulls 'Rest in Peace' Act to Stop Funeral Demonstrations

[ECH1969]

Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn is promoting legislation to limit political protests at funeral services in the state.

Quinn has submitted the Let Them Rest in Peace Act to Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, the Southern Illinoisan reported. The legislation would establish a 300-foot buffer zone between protesters and the site of funeral service, to be in effect from 30 minutes before until 30 minutes after a service.

Quinn said he had attended at least three military funerals that had attracted protests from the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan. Followers of the church's leader, the Rev. Fred Phelps, frequently attend military funerals carrying signs that read Thank God for 9/11 and God Hates Fags -- to push their message that terrorist attacks on the United States and U.S. military deaths in Iraq are God's punishment of the United States for tolerating homosexuality.

http://story.chicagochronicle.com/p.x/ct/9/id/429e362b24d27979/cid/ad135a7dc74b4c33/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

I saw on the news a clip of one of these assholes screaming right at the mother of a dead marine walking to his funeral "Thank God for IEDs, your son was a Fag who deserved to die".

[crystalallison]

1. trespassing

Can't protesters be removed for trespassing? Or disturbing the peace?

[ECH1969]

4. That is a good question

[kevinbgoode]

2. The only thing that ticks me off about this is. . .

that why is it NOW, when these people have been doing this to GAY funerals for YEARS. . .are legislators suddenly deciding that gosh...this is so disrespectful? Is it any more disrespectful now that it is a Marine than it was to a gay American?

[ECH1969]

3. I never heard about them until they started protesting

funerals for soldiers. You can thank the media for that.

[kevinbgoode]

5. Matt Shepard's funeral in Wyoming

in 1997. They were at the funeral and the cemetary. No laws were passed.

[xchrom]

6. bingo.

[ECH1969]

7. The media didn't report that widely enough

so it didn't happen for most Americans.