Ethics

Michigan ACLU Challenges Funeral Protest Law

By Ed Brayton

A state law intended to stop protests at funerals such as those engaged in by the vehemently anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church is being challenged by the ACLU of Michigan after it was used by the Clare County Sheriff's Department to arrest a couple participating in the funeral of a friend with a banner on their car.

The ACLU filed the suit on behalf of Lewis Lowden, a U.S. Army veteran, and his late wife Jean, who were arrested on Sept. 26, 2007, while participating in a funeral procession for Army Corporal Todd Motley, a soldier killed in Iraq. They were arrested for violating Michigan's law against funeral protests, which says:

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on April 06, 2009 (boomark / email).