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10 yr old Stomps on Flag at Military funeral

W

WingZero94

Golden Member
http://www.navytimes.com/news/...p_flagprotest_070807w/

Woman whose son stomped on flag attacks law

The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Aug 9, 2007 18:37:19 EDT

PAPILLION, Neb. ? Nebraska?s law to protect the American flag is unconstitutional, says a legal challenge filed for a Kansas woman.

Shirley Phelps-Roper has been charged with letting her 10-year-old son, Jonah, stomp on an American flag outside a Bellevue soldier?s funeral in June.

She also was charged with negligent child abuse, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and disturbing the peace.

Nebraska?s flag law defines flag mutilation as when a ?person intentionally casts contempt or ridicule upon a flag by mutilating, defacing, defiling, burning, or trampling upon such flag.?
What do you think?

DEBATE: Freedom of speech or criminal act?

Phelps-Roper, who is also a lawyer, has noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has struck down laws forbidding flag desecration.

She is a member of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka and the daughter of the church?s founder, the Rev. Fred Phelps.

Westboro Baptist says that troop deaths are God?s judgment against America for tolerating homosexuals. Phelps-Roper?s father founded the church, which has protested at military funerals in Nebraska and across the nation.

The June 5 funeral in Bellevue was for Nebraska Army National Guard Spc. William ?Bill? Bailey, who was killed May 25 when an explosive device struck his vehicle in Iraq.

Last month the Bellevue City Council barred church members from protesting outside the funeral of a sailor killed in Iraq.

Phelps-Roper?s attorney filed a motion in Sarpy County Court last week to throw out the state law, saying it violates her right to free speech.

The motion also said Sarpy County Attorney Lee Polikov?s public statements have ?effectively polluted the jury pool? to the extent Phelps-Roper can?t get a fair trial in the state.

Phelps-Roper attorney Bassel El-Kasaby said he has several Polikov statements to illustrate the point.

Polikov said the complaint was hypocritical.

?This is an attempt to limit my free speech,? he said Monday. ?The cornerstone of their case is free speech.?

A November hearing has been set on a defense motion that asks the prosecution to detail the facts supporting its charges against Phelps-Roper.
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Friggen Haters need to go fall off a cliff.....
 
If I ever get terminal cancer or some incurable disease, I'm going to show up at one of their rallies and take out as many as I can before the cops take me out.
 
"Flag burning laws" are ridiculous and are extremely hypocritical when you think about the freedom our flag stands for.

With that said, everyone at that church is a complete waste of breath.
 
Although I hate them with every fiber of my being, and that family is a bunch of ******* ***** *****ing bas***** mother**** as*****ers


.....our country's freedoms defend their acts....


and those of gun-toting trigger happy law-enforcement as well🙂
 
As much as I hate those Westboro asshats, I can't think of any reason why stepping on the American flag should be illegal.
 
Unfortunately freedom of speech applies not only to the intelligent but also the low-life idiots like Westboro.

It pains me to have to side with them, but I hope they win. Getting the flag-burning ban over-turned would be a nice side benefit.

Viper GTS
 
Originally posted by: Gobadgrs
If I ever get terminal cancer or some incurable disease, I'm going to show up at one of their rallies and take out as many as I can before the cops take me out.
Click to expand...



As much as I hate to wish a terminal illness on anyone, for you I make an exception j/k

Throw them nasty bitches in jail. How they poison the minds of kids :|
 
Westboro Baptist says that troop deaths are God?s judgment against America for tolerating homosexuals.



:roll: cocksuckers.
 
Desecrating our most sacred symbol is wrong, but that doesn't mean it should be illegal. Having said that, I hope the bring this trial to Utah, let's let this "unbiased" jury deliver justice here!
 
Hmm...

You know, freedom is a bitch. Freedom means that you have to accept the rights of your fellow citizens to believe and say things that go completely against everything you believe and say. We wouldn't have that freedom if not for the men and women in the armed forces right now, and the hundreds of thousands who have died for the cause. So while what the kid has done shouldn't really be illegal, he does deserve to be punished for being so incredibly disrespectful. I don't care if these numskulls believe that troop deaths are God's judgement against us for tolerating homosexuals, but you don't do shit like that during a funeral for someone who just died so you could have the right to be a dipshit. Normally I'd we should just look the other way while his parents give him a black eye, but they probably went out and bought him a shiny new bicycle for doing what he did.

Sigh. This kind of incident is precisely why freedom isn't going to catch on anytime soon for a place as religiously charged as the Middle East. If they can't tolerate each other's relatively small variations in beliefs, how will they be able to tolerate incidents like this, which so grossly demonstrate some of the worst elements of humanity.
 
Even though I despise them, I'm totally behind her on this. The kid did nothing that should be chargeable, even if many would consider it morally reprehensible. I think they should drop all charges immediately, strike the law from the books, then line up every member of Westboro and shoot them.
 
Originally posted by: PrinceofWands
Even though I despise them, I'm totally behind her on this. The kid did nothing that should be chargeable, even if many would consider it morally reprehensible. I think they should drop all charges immediately, strike the law from the books, then line up every member of Westboro and shoot them.
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Best plea bargain ever!
 
Not to make light of the situation as I think that is rather disrespectful. It does however remind me of Futurama when Dr. Zoidberg ate the flag on freedom day.
 
:laugh:

So many things to say..

On the one hand, the lady is an idiot and the kid should be punished for doing such a thing at a funeral..

But not because it's against the law. :roll:

If he wants to stomp on our flag, let him. Christ.
Originally posted by: FrozenCanadian
Not to make light of the situation as I think that is rather disrespectful. It does however remind me of Futurama when Dr. Zoidberg ate the flag on freedom day.
Click to expand...
Bwahahahahahahaa...

:thumbsup:
 
Originally posted by: nweaver
Desecrating our most sacred symbol is wrong, but that doesn't mean it should be illegal. Having said that, I hope the bring this trial to Utah, let's let this "unbiased" jury deliver justice here!
Click to expand...

She'll probably be convicted, because Nebraska law says it's against the law to to "trample upon" a flag and she apparently encouraged her kid to do that. But then she'll appeal, and eventually it'll be reversed because the law is unconstitutional. That decision will be made by a judge, not a jury.
 
Originally posted by: joshsquall
"Flag burning laws" are ridiculous and are extremely hypocritical when you think about the freedom our flag stands for.

With that said, everyone at that church is a complete waste of breath.
Click to expand...

 
I long for the day these "people" make the mistake of stepping on to private property during the exercise of their 1st Amendment rights and encounter someone more than willing to practice the one made possible by the 2nd amendment.

I'll shed a single tear.....I promise........really....
 
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