April 29, 2006: ’Fallen Heroes Act’ Passed to Thwart Anti-Gay Protesters from Appearing at Military Funerals

The federal “Respect for America’s Fallen Heroes Act” is passed by Congress, and will be signed into law on May 29. The law forbids protests at funerals within 300 feet of any national cemetery from 60 minutes before the funeral to 60 minutes afterwards. The law was written in response to controversial protests by the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church, which has taken to protesting at the funerals of soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan (see June 2005 and After). In the months to follow, 20 states will enact similar laws, and many cities will pass ordinances tailored to prevent the WBC from protesting at local funerals, especially those of fallen soldiers. The American Civil Liberties Union will file lawsuits on behalf of the WBC’s right to free expression in Missouri and Ohio without success. [US Congress, 4/29/2006; Southern Poverty Law Center, 2012] Some of the statutes include restrictions on faxing, in response to the WBC’s notorious use of faxes to inundate its enemies with floods of hate statements and other documents. Many of these attempts to restrict the WBC’s use of faxes ultimately fail, even though many of the faxes are defamatory and contain what many consider to be pornographic images. [Southern Poverty Law Center, 4/2001; Southern Poverty Law Center, 4/2001]