NY Senate Passes Bill Limiting Military Funeral Protests
By: Alex Hinckley
Updated: March 15, 2011
The New York State Senate has passed a bill that limits those rights.
The bill is called “The Specialist Thomas Wilwerth Military Dignity Act”. It is named after an Iraq War Veteran who died five years ago. The goal of the bill is to protect the families of fallen soldiers while they mourn.
Essentially this bill creates a buffer zone around the funeral so pickets do not happen close to family and friends in mourning.
This comes after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Westboro Church in Kansas. They are famous for picketing at military funerals. The Court ruled in their to protests citing their freedom of speech.
The bill here in New York says protests have to stay 2,500 feet away from a service.
There is catch though, protest organizers can get closer if they pay a town or city for the cost of heightened security, since it does cost more during protests. If they do that they can be within 500 feet of the service.
Advocates say freedom of speech is still in tact because the bill does not stop protests from happening, it just limits how close they can be.
The bill is now under consideration in the New York State Assembly.
