Kudos to Stumbo

I must have missed the news when legislation was shot down but I am certainly glad that the Attorney General has issued an advisory dealing with some folks that have no respect for grieving families. If they truly believed in what they preach, they would not protest at a funeral. Instead, they would mourn those who passed away.

Attorney General Greg Stumbo told law enforcement officials in Bardstown that protestors who plan to demonstrate at a funeral Saturday for 10 fire victims could be subject to arrest.

A group from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., plans to come to Bardstown to express their belief that the family’s deaths are God’s punishment for a nation that condones homosexuality. The group has protested at funerals across the country, often those of soldiers killed in Iraq.

In September, a federal judge ruled that peaceful funeral protests are allowed and barred enforcement of a law passed by the Kentucky legislature that would prohibit such protests.

But Stumbo issued an advisory today that reminds law enforcement officials that by law no person may block access to any funeral, engage in violent or threatening behavior, make unreasonable noise or create any other hazardous or offensive condition within 300 feet of a funeral home, memorial service or cemetery during a funeral or burial.

“It is critical that the rights of grieving families and communities are protected,” Stumbo said.