The Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act: Conflicting Interests Raise Hell with the First Amendment Note 75 UMKC Law Review 2006-2007

75 UMKC L. Rev. 523 (2006-2007)
The Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act: Conflicting Interests Raise Hell with the First Amendment

handle is hein.journals/umkc75 and id is 531 raw text is: THE RESPECT FOR AMERICA'S FALLEN HEROES
ACT: CONFLICTING INTERESTS RAISE HELL WITH
THE FIRST AMENDMENT
Rebecca Bland*
I. INTRODUCTION
A mother should not have to bury her son. Such a loss would be
devastating. But, on a Tuesday morning at Arlington National Cemetery in
Washington, D.C.,' a mother does. Military families know the risks of war, yet
mothers and fathers selflessly send their sons and daughters off to protect
America's freedoms. Not all of them make it back alive.
Her twenty-two-year-old son was an Army corporal who had the career he
had always dreamed about. He enlisted in the military after graduating from high
school and was proud to serve his country. During his second deployment to
Iraq, he died when a roadside bomb exploded near his convoy in Baghdad. His
body was flown back to the United States for a proper military funeral.
A military funeral should be a solemn occasion, a private gathering for
mourning a loss, for honoring a life that was cut short, for remembering the love
of a son, a brother, a friend, a hero. Unfortunately, not everyone appreciates the
dignity of a final farewell. While a mother, family, and friends mourn the death
of a loved one, a small but vocal band of picketers, just past the perimeter of the
cemetery grounds, celebrates his death.
The picketers are members of Westboro Baptist Church from Topeka,
Kansas, who protest at the funerals of fallen soldiers to promote their belief that
God is punishing America as divine retribution for the nation's tolerance of
homosexuality.3 Church members shake brightly colored placards bearing
hateful messages, such as Thank God for Dead Soldiers and God Hates Fags,
and scream to grieving parents that their children are rotting in hell.4 The
members do not believe the soldiers are going to hell for being homosexual, but
simply for fighting for a country that allows homosexuality.5
* J.D. Candidate, December 2007, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law; Bachelor of
Journalism, 1983, University of Missouri-Columbia.
1 Arlington National Cemetery is the nation's premier military cemetery for the brave men and
women of the Armed Forces. The cemetery performs over 100 funerals each week, including
funerals similar to the fictional scenario depicted here. Arlington National Cemetery,
www.arlingtoncemetery.org/visitorinformation/index.htm.
2 See 152 CONG. REC. H2199 (daily ed. May 9,2006).
3 152 CONG. REc. S5129 (daily ed. May 24, 2006) (statement of Sen. Craig).
4 Josh Belzman, Behind their hate, a constitutional debate, MSNBC (Apr. 17, 2006),
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12071434.
5 Kari Lydersen, 5 States Consider Bans on Protests at Funerals; Proposals Aimed at Anti-gay
Demonstrations, WASH. POST, Jan. 30, 2006, at A9.

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