A federal judge overturned Nebraska’s ban on flag mutilation yesterday, clearing the way for Kansas protesters to continue trampling on the U.S. flag when they protest at military funerals.
September 3, 2010
By The Associated Press
OMAHA, Neb. — The ruling from U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf said the law can’t be applied as long as Megan Phelps-Roper and fellow members of the Westboro Baptist Church “otherwise act peacefully while desecrating the American or Nebraska flag during their religiously motivated protests.”
It was unclear whether the ruling applied only to the church members or to everyone in Nebraska. An earlier temporary block of the law applied only to Phelps-Roper.
The judge declined to explain the intent of his ruling when reached by the Associated Press.
A message left yesterday with the Nebraska attorney general’s office wasn’t immediately returned.
Attorney General Jon Bruning has previously said the flag-protection law passed in 1977 is not consistent with later U.S. Supreme Court rulings that labeled flag desecration a form of protected speech.
Bruning has said he wouldn’t fight to save the Nebraska law. If he chooses not to appeal, Kopf’s decision would close the case.
Members of the Topeka, Kan., church protest at soldiers’ funerals around the country because they say U.S. troop deaths are punishment for the nation’s tolerance of homosexuality. Westboro members often trample on the U.S. flag, wear it and display it upside-down as part of their protests.
In July, Phelps-Roper filed the federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Nebraska’s flag law, saying it infringed on her right to free speech. The law barred intentionally “casting contempt or ridicule” upon a U.S. or Nebraska flag by mutilating, defacing or burning it or by trampling on it.
Phelps-Roper’s attorney, Margie Phelps, said yesterday that the church has been “expressively using the flag a lot in Nebraska.”
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press
One Comment
I think this is the most ludicrous and unexceptible decision to ever come from an appointed official in the U. S. Supreme Court.
The people of this nation have a right to the protection of the National flag and you, sir, should be ashamed for overturning the Nebraska ban on flag mutilation which will allow protestors of our flag to continue the mutilation of the National Flag at military funerals. Not only is this a disgrace to the National Flag, it is a disgrace to our military and the freedom they have fought for since the first war ever happened.
This is just more evidence of people losing their rights afforded by the U. S. Constitution in the Bill of Rights.
Comments are closed.