Congress considers Respect for America's Fallen Heros Act

This should be good.

Details:
Desired participants:
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) Sponsor of the bill
Chairman Steve Buyer (R-IN) House Veterans' Affairs Committee
Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX)
Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI)
plus other members---there are approx. 200 cosponsors for this legislation. We're putting a call out to all cosponsors to participate.
We'd love to get as much participation from you all as possible.
Location: West Front of the U.S. Capitol
Time: 2pm
Any participants can meet in my office--202a cannon house office building
Please let me know as soon as possible if you all can participate.


Here's a brief summary of the legislation that will be on the floor tomorrow:

Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act - Prohibits a person from carrying out a demonstration: (1) at a cemetery under the control of the National Cemetery Administration or at Arlington National Cemetery, unless the demonstration has been approved by the cemetery superintendent or director; or (2) within 500 feet of a cemetery at which a funeral or memorial service is to be held, for a period beginning 60 minutes before and ending 60 minutes after the funeral or service, if such demonstration includes any individual making noise or a diversion that disturbs the peace or good order of the funeral or service.

Amends the federal criminal code to provide criminal penalties for violations of such prohibitions.

Expresses the sense of Congress that each state should enact legislation to restrict demonstrations near any military funeral.

How are you defining "good", Lek?

Serious question.

We'll see.

Seems reasonable enough to me.

Seems reasonable to me - it just irks the piss out of me that it's even necessary.

That there are people who have so little respect that we have to pass such a law.

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sounds good to me!

they are not making it illegal to protest (which would violate 1st ammendment), but requiring protestors to keep a respectfull distance...

I approve

Surely there's already laws that govern this...simple "breaching the peace", which no doubt applies to cemetaries, military or not.

Perhaps it's different over here, but if there are a bunch of people causing a ruckus, the police here are perfectly within their power in telling them to move on.

Musuko.

You cant arrest someone here for a protest unless they incite a riot or cause property damage... free speach and all that...

and again, you cant make a law completely outlawing protests for the same reason.. hence the need for a law like this. it doesnt ban the protest, or take away the protestors rights, but it still affords a measure of legal protection for the deceased and the family's rights.

Sounds good, it should be extended to all funerals/cemetaries, though...

Its really sad that such a law is necessary. Basic respect for others and shame are truly dead in America.

"You cant arrest someone here for a protest unless they incite a riot or cause property damage... free speach and all that..."

I'm sure you must have a law against breaching the peace over there...so if you're a shop-owner and there's this guy with a sign and a loudhailer making a lot of noise outside your place, making things unpleasant for everyone, you can call the police and get him moved, or have them tell him to quieten it down.

Musuko.

In the US you can be arrested for disturbing the peace and being a public nusiance. You can also be arrested for loitering. All misdeameanors that don't necessarily get you a jail sentence.

Yes it should be.

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Should the people who own the cemetaries or funeral property wish to remove protesters they may request police to remove them at any time due to trespassing or a number of other laws already on the books (assuming a couple preconditions have been met for certain laws). Further, the proposed law could potentially criminalize otherwise legal and sanctioned protests on the aforementioned sites.

Also, if the organizations in the proposed legislation are permitting protests to occur, then future mourners should reconsider their choice of plot.

Lecktor I also wish that nobody would exhibit what I consider obnoxious speech in my presence but do I want the federal government to prohibit everything I don't like? Not really.

We do have a Constitution.....

What, exactly, is the need for "legal and sanctioned" protests of a person's death?

Often times cemetery plots are purchased decades or more in advance. Sometimes they are family plots, or the only cemetery in the town the person grew up in, or whatever. "If you don't like it, bury your dad somewhere else" is really a lame answer to a very real problem.

Straw man. We impose sanctions on free speach all the time. Same here - we aren't preventing them from protesting, just not doing it where it's going to cause hardship for the family.

No kidding, Juro.

Yep we do. Hey I didn't present this bill to the House I just was making everyone aware. It passed btw.

Great. When are they going to pass a bill that protects the veterans who DON'T die and ensures that they get treated and taken care of after they can't serve in combat anymore?

Oh, that's right, never.

I like it because it defines that a disturbance must be the intent or product. That way someone can't get in troubel for casually discussing the war negatively nearby or for wearing a "bring our soldiers home" shirt to a military funeral.