Arizona Eyes Ban On Church Protest At Rampage Funeral
LOS ANGELES (CBS/AP) — Arizona legislators have approved emergency legislation to head off picketing by a Topeka, Kan., church near the funeral service for a 9-year-old girl who was killed during Saturday's shooting in Tucson.
Tucson State Representative Daniel Patterson, one of the sponsors of the bill, tells KNX 1070 the move is not an attack on the First Amendment.
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Unanimous votes by the House and Senate cleared the way for the bill to go to Gov. Jan Brewer for her expected signature. It would take effect immediately.
Without specifically mentioning the Tucson shooting, the proposed law would prohibit protests at or near funeral sites.
The Westboro Baptist Church said yesterday it plans to picket Thursday's funeral for Christina Taylor Green because "God sent the shooter to deal with idolatrous America."
The fundamentalist church has picketed many military funerals to draw attention to its view that the deaths are God's punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.
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