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Kansas Supreme Court Strikes Down Funeral Picketing Law

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TheSarge:
TOPEKA, Kan.  —  The Kansas Supreme Court effectively ended a law banning picketing at funerals, ruling Tuesday that it was unconstitutional for legislators to require a court to uphold the law before it could be enforced.

That "judicial trigger" was intended to prevent the Westboro Baptist Church from collecting damages from the state after a successful appeal of the law.

The law was passed in response to the sect's picketing of military funerals; the Rev. Fred Phelps and his followers claim U.S. combat deaths are God's punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.

Ruling on a law before it can be enforced usurps power from the Legislature, Justice Marla J. Luckert wrote in the unanimous ruling.

"Courts do not have jurisdiction over purely hypothetical questions associated with nonexistent issues," she wrote.

The court did not address the merits of the 2007 law, which bars protesters from being within 150 feet of a funeral one hour before, during or two hours after a service ends. It also makes it unlawful to obstruct any public street or sidewalk.

The law also allows families to sue if they feel protesters defamed the dead. That single provision survives after the court's ruling.


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,336934,00.html
 

:banghead:

Chris_:
DAMMIT!  :banghead:

DixieBelle:
So now they have to wait until it happens and then try to bring it before the courts??

Oy vey!

Duke Nukum:
It seems like the legislators screwed up on this one by requiring the courts to approve the law.

Lord Undies:
The Supreme Court is right.  It ruled the way it had to in order to be consistent with previous rulings.  You cannot put the cart before the horse. 

The court ruling made no note about the validity of the legislation.  In fact, it was smart not to do so.  The original law is good and will hold up when properly presented to the court.  The US Supreme Court has already held that reasonable protest restrictions are constitutional, so it won't be a problem.

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