PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Anthony Rothert
Legal Director
(314) 361-2111
tony@aclu-em.org
ACLU Challenges Missouri Law Banning Pickets and Protests
One Hour Before or After a Funeral
ST.
LOUIS – July 21, 2006 – The American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern
Missouri filed a lawsuit today on behalf of Shirley L. Phelps-Roper, a
member of a controversial conservative Christian church, claims a
Missouri law infringes on her rights to religious liberty and free
speech. The lawsuit challenges Missouri laws banning protest or
picketing “in front of or about” any location in which a funeral is
being held or any funeral procession. The law was enacted to
prevent members of Phelps-Roper’s church from conducting their
protests, which many find to by anti-gay and anti-American. “Free
speech and the right to protest peacefully extend to all Americans,
even if their messages are unpopular and distasteful,” said Brenda
Jones, executive director of the ACLU of Eastern Missouri. “The
government cannot pick and choose whose rights it is going to
honor. Laws that restrict first amendment rights never harm only
one group; they pave the way for restrictions on the right to dissent
for all groups.”
The current version of the law was signed by
Missouri Governor Matt Blunt on July 6. The law makes it a crime
to protest or picket one hour before or one hour after a funeral and in
front of or about any location which the funeral is being held.
The statue defines a funeral as “the ceremonies, processions and
memorial services held in connection with the burial or cremation of
the dead.” It expands on a February 2006 law banning pickets and
protests only in front of a church, cemetery or funeral establishment.
According
to the suit, the law violates a number of First Amendment provisions,
including the rights to free speech, free expression of religion and
free association. Comments by Blunt and other politicians have made it
clear that this is a content-based restriction on First Amendment
liberties, directed primarily at limiting the forum in which
Phelps-Roper and other members of the church can express their message.
Phelps-Roper,
a resident of Topeka, Kansas, is a member of Westboro Baptist Church,
which follows primitive Baptist and Calvinist doctrines. Its members
believe that homosexuality is a sin and an abomination and further
believe that God is punishing America for the sin of homosexuality by
killing Americans, including soldiers. For them, the purpose of
picketing and protesting near funerals is to use an available public
platform to publish their religious message. They believe that the
public platform is the only place where their religious message can be
delivered in a timely and relevant manner to those attending the
funeral and those participating in the public events and displays
outside the funeral.
“While we disagree with their message that
tolerance of gay people has corrupted America, it is not the job of the
government to silence speech that we don’t want to hear,” said Anthony
Rothert, legal director of the ACLU of Eastern Missouri. “The
response to speech that is offensive should be more speech explaining
why we disagree, not having the police arrest those who take an
opposite view.”
“Allowing speech we find offensive in public forums is one cost of the freedom that defines America,” Rothert said.
According
to the suit, the law is interpreted differently in cities across the
state because of its vague terms. In some counties,
officials have applied the law in such a broad manner that it would
restrict the speech of any private citizens during a funeral,
regardless of their message. In other counties, groups with opposing
views have been allowed to protest without the law being enforced
against them while Phelps-Roper and her group have been threatened with
arrest. The suit was filed in Federal District Court for
the Western District of Missouri. It has been assigned to Judge
Nanette Laughrey. Phelps-Roper asks the court for a
declaration that the protest ban is unconstitutional and an injunction
prohibiting it from being enforced.
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