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Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius on Thursday signed a law forcing an antigay pastor and his followers to keep their distance when protesting military funerals, but the church claims the new rules will have no effect on its demonstrations.
Members of the Topeka-based Westboro Baptist Church, led by the Reverend Fred Phelps, have picketed burials around the country of U.S. troops killed in combat, claiming their deaths are God's punishment for a nation harboring homosexuals.
''It's disgraceful for anyone to try and disrupt a funeral,'' Sebelius said during a statehouse ceremony. ''It is unfortunate this reprehensible practice has been exported to other states.''
The law says protesters can't be within 150 feet of a funeral one hour before, during, or two hours after the end of the service. Violators would face up to a $1,000 fine and six months in jail. It also makes it illegal to obstruct any public street or sidewalk and allows family members to sue if they feel protesters defamed the deceased.
The law will not take effect until the Kansas supreme court or a federal court upholds it as constitutional. Legislators added that provision to lessen concerns that Phelps and his followers would file a legal challenge, win, and collect attorney fees from the state.
Shirley Phelps-Roper, the church's attorney, called the new law ''absolutely worthless.''
''We are always more than 300 feet from the funeral site and always leave before the funeral starts,'' said Phelps-Roper, daughter of Fred Phelps. ''There is nothing about the law that has anything to do with us.''
At least 32 states have enacted laws restricting funeral protests, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. (AP)
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