[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 261 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 261

 Expressing the sense of Congress that the Supreme Court should uphold 
laws that allow the families and friends of fallen members of the Armed 
         Forces to mourn their loved ones in peace and privacy.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 15, 2010

 Mr. Boccieri submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of Congress that the Supreme Court should uphold 
laws that allow the families and friends of fallen members of the Armed 
         Forces to mourn their loved ones in peace and privacy.

Whereas members of the Armed Forces who are killed in combat, die from wounds 
        incurred in combat, or otherwise die in the line of duty lay down the 
        ultimate sacrifice for the safety of the United States;
Whereas the families and friends of these brave men and women have the right to 
        mourn their loved ones in peace and privacy;
Whereas families at military funerals have been subject to offensive and 
        disruptive shouting and picketing that deprives them of that right;
Whereas the protestors of Westboro Baptist Church engage in offensive and 
        disruptive demonstrations at military funerals, holding signs that read, 
        ``Thank God for Dead Soldiers'' and ``Soldiers Die God Laughs'';
Whereas 41 States have enacted laws that protect the peace and privacy of 
        grieving military families by shielding them from protestors at the 
        funerals and memorial services of their loved ones;
Whereas the 109th Congress passed, with overwhelming bipartisan support, the 
        Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act (Public Law 109-228), which 
        requires protestors to remain a respectful distance from a funeral or 
        memorial service at a cemetery under the control of the Federal 
        Government;
Whereas the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act reaffirmed the commitment of 
        the United States to honor those who have sacrificed their lives for the 
        safety of the people of the United States;
Whereas the Supreme Court announced on March 8, 2010, that they will review the 
        case Snyder v. Phelps, No. 09-751, in which the Court will decide 
        whether laws that limit the speech of protestors in order to protect the 
        peace and privacy of grieving military families may be upheld under the 
        First Amendment to the Constitution;
Whereas the Supreme Court, in National Archives and Records Administration v. 
        Favish, 541 U.S. 157 (2004), declared that ``family members have a 
        personal stake in honoring and mourning their dead and objecting to 
        unwarranted public exploitation that by intruding upon their own grief, 
        tends to degrade the rites and respect they seek to accord to the 
        deceased person who was once their own'';
Whereas the Supreme Court, in Hill v. Colorado, 530 U.S. 703 (2000), ruled that 
        limitations on speech may restrict the time, place, and manner of speech 
        to protect the public from confrontational and harassing conduct; and
Whereas a military funeral or memorial service is never the appropriate time or 
        place for protest, and protest at a military funeral or memorial service 
        is never an appropriate manner of exercising free speech: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that the Supreme Court should uphold 
laws that allow the families and friends of fallen members of the Armed 
Forces to mourn their loved ones in peace and privacy.
                                 <all>