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Legal & Legislative
FUNERAL PROTEST LAW UPDATE
New Law Limiting Military-Funeral Protests at Non-Federal Cemeteries and Funeral Homes President Bush has signed into law legislation protecting military funerals from protests at non-federal cemeteries and funeral homes.
Specifically, the bill amends the federal criminal code to make it unlawful for any person to engage in an activity that disturbs the peace or good order of a funeral or impedes access to a funeral 60 minutes before and after a funeral, and within 150 feet of a funeral at a non-federal cemetery or funeral home. Violations could result in a fine and/or prison term of up to one year.
The law limiting protests at national cemeteries bars protests within 300 feet of a national cemetery’s entrance and within 150 feet of a road into the cemetery. This restriction applies from an hour before a funeral until an hour after. Violators would face up to a $100,000 fine and up to a year in prison.
Pennsylvania Funeral Protest Law requires protesters to remain at least 500 feet away from a funeral, memorial service or procession within an hour of the service, during the service, or an hour afterward. Violators could face up to a year in prison and $2,500 in fines. It allows for violators to be sued by the deceased’s family. And it allows courts to file an injunction to prevent a demonstration at a funeral from occurring.