Is (should) the anti funeral protest law in KS

[Fovea]

be a campaign issue?
I have really strong feelings about the matter, so I know I am not at all objective.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5056792

Perhaps this thread needs more cowbell.

[MuseRider]

1. If it was ever going to be one

it should have been one many years ago when it was not a soldiers funeral that was being protested.

Aside from that it is a very difficult issue. We have a statement on the front page of our website about this. I have very strong feelings on this matter too but have to put those aside as I stand for the first amendment. As much as I hate it it must be that way IMO.

KansasEqualityCoalition.org front page, top article.

[TechBear_Seattle]

3. I don't really have a problem with such laws

For the simple expedient: The laws do not prohibit free speech. Rather, they say that such speech may not be done within a certain limit of a very specific type of event.

There are existing laws, upheld by the court as constitutional, which allow for the punishment of people who disrupt certain private events such as church services, weddings, etc., even when such events are taking place in a public venue. I see absolutely no reason why existing laws should not be extended to include funerals.

[MuseRider]

5. Good points.

Thanks, I had not put that together. Now I can settle things in my mind a bit easier.

[MonkeyFunk]

2. Is anyone proposing such a law?

And how would it help? Most of their protests aren't in Kansas.

[MuseRider]

4. You wanna bet?

Maybe most of the soldiers protests but they are out on our streets every single day, usually in 3 or 4 groups in the morning at noon and during the evening drive time. They attend almost every event in town as well. EVERY day including Sunday protesting outside churches who are accepting or welcoming to GLBT and even those who are not but don't support the clan.

They do funerals here as well but mostly we ignore them because frankly more attention is what they want and we can't afford to lose any more lawsuits. Besides, nothing is making them go away. The only thing that has not been tried is ignoring them no matter how much they escalate until they become violent and I seriously doubt that will happen. Remember, once the protesting of gay funerals began to grow "boring" to the rest of the country they started in with the 9/11 stuff and then when that was not getting them a big news article every day they went to soldiers. If the rest of the country would ignore them they would eventually go away or just become unseen therefore irrelevant.

[MonkeyFunk]

6. ok

perhaps I should've said most of their high-profile protests.

But is anyone proposing such a law? I'm trying to figure out what the OP is talking about.

[MuseRider]

7. There was a law here

but our Supreme Court just dumped it on technicalities. A new one is supposedly being fast tracked as we speak (write) :).

[Fovea]

9. Not a simple issue, not at all

You will note that of the other Kansas residents in this thread
none of whom generally advocate the jury nullification of premeditated murder have jumped on me for my position.

I suspect, in their heart of hearts, they just want Phelps to not be part of our shared reality at this point. As in the case of Skidmore Missouri, sometimes the legal framework cannot do the will of the people. When that happens, all too frequently the rule of law is circumvented, for good or ill.

Someone, someday may solve Fred's attitude problem. And at this point, I doubt that the perp will be caught, just as in Skidmore, despite the full court press from the FBI. Again, this marks a failure of due process.

But I am currently living in a nation without habeas corpus, so my moral outrage at murder most foul is a bit constrained by knowing what sort of humanoid we are talking about, and the current moral ambiguity of the state.

The three core values of American democracy include defense of the pursuit of happiness. A family mourning the loss of a family member has a right to privacy free for them to claim, to support the pursuit of happiness-- or Roe v. Wade is not supportable under law, being predicated on privacy as being part in the penumbra of the rights that support those American values.

[MonkeyFunk]

10. I have no idea who's in Kansas in this thread

besides you.

It's a simple question: is someone proposing such a law?

[MuseRider]

12. Ummmm, me?

I am sitting here thinking of all the stupid things I may have said over all the years I have been saying stupid things on this site and I can't think of one thing I might have said that gives that impression. I am hoping you are talking about the other thread? Please enlighten me. I am prone to misstate from time to time but I know of no time I would have ever given the impression that Fred should in any way be accepted. I also do not know what murder you are talking about.

[Fovea]

13. Sorry, I was accidentally merging the two threads in my mind

[MuseRider]

14. Thank you! Whew!

I would never want to be on that side or a side that hurt you.

[foxeyes2]

8. Law is needed

It is despicable that these people protest at funerals. They got their start at Matthew Shepherd's funeral and when I saw them on the news I wept. I had come out of the religious right but could not fathom how anyone could be so hateful and at such a sad time. I ended up writing a poem about Matthew the next day in part because of what I saw on the nightly news. There are just no words to accurately describe my revulsion.

[MonkeyFunk]

11. They were around long before Matthew Shepherd

and no law can prevent them from protesting that will be constitutional. Them's the breaks.

The first amendment isn't there to protect popular speech, which needs no protection. It's there to protect assholes like this guy as much as anybody else.

[TechBear_Seattle]

15. I believe you are slightly incorrect

No law can prevent them from protesting, yes. But laws already in existence, that have already stood up to constitutional scrutiny, can prevent them from protesting in a way that disrupts private events even when those events take place in a public venue. The extension of such laws to include funerals should be sufficient.