None — One local lawmaker wants to change state law to better protect families from protesters at military funerals.
Protesters from the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church announced their intentions to protest the service for Lance Cpl. Nic O'Brien in Gastonia on Monday. They did not show up, but now protesters insist they'll be protesting his burial at Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday.
State Rep. Kelly Hastings, R-Gaston Co., was at the funeral, and he said it was an unfair distraction to the family. There is a 300-foot protected buffer zone at funerals, created by a state law six years ago.
"That type of footage might not be enough to preserve dignity. And I tell you, I've even gotten stronger in my belief about this after having attended the service," Hastings said.
Hastings said he is now working on a new bill that would increase the protected buffer zone.
"Those families, and those young men and women, they deserve the utmost dignity," he said.
Hundreds of people attended O'Brien's service on Monday. Extra police were on hand in case the protesters showed up, and family and friends were prepared to counter-protest.
The U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year protected the right to protest at funerals, but individual states can come up with appropriate restrictions.
This year alone, seven states have drafted new military funeral laws. David Hudson -- a lawyer and a constitutional law professor -- told Eyewitness News a 500-foot-protected buffer is increasingly common, and some states are even considering a 1000-foot buffer.
"It raises the question as to whether your so-called reasonable time, place and manner restriction on speech might restrict too much speech. You can't just flat out ban it. So at some point the distance will simply become too great," Hudson said.
Hastings said he's still researching the best way to "toughen up" the current statute. He wants to have a first draft done by the end of July.
"What we hope to do is draft a narrow bill that will withstand constitutional muster," he said.
O'Brien will be buried at Arlington on Tuesday.
WSOC
