Grave concerns

Army Staff Sgt. Jeremy Doyle's family deserved a somber moment -- but protesters were waving signs that read "God blew up the troops."\nDoyle, of Martinsville, had his funeral picketed in August by the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan. The church has protested at five other military funerals in Indiana -- in Evansville, they thanked God for the roadside explosives that killed Army Pvt. Jonathan Pfender in December. The church says soldiers are dying abroad because of the United States' tolerance for gays.\nThese protests motivated the Indiana Senate to pass a bill banning disorderly conduct within 500 feet of all funerals and burials, carrying a Class D felony penalty of up to three years in prison and a $10,000 fine.\nIt's disheartening that we even have to debate the right to protest funerals, let alone the disheartening fact that people are picketing in the first place.\nAs journalists and Americans, we hold the First Amendment near and dear to our hearts. This issue caught our attention -- and our ambivalence. After reviewing the specific terminology, however, we find ourselves in support of the bill. \nBecause the bill specifically bans "disorderly conduct," already a misdemeanor, it seems to be on firm footing constitutionally. Theoretically, a silent protest is still legal, although we would like to believe that a group civil enough to hold a silent protest at a funeral is also civil enough not to protest a funeral in the first place. \nFurthermore, the bill is specific enough not to be applied in a manner that would truly limit protected speech. An earlier attempt in Kansas to limit protestors at funerals was declared unconstitutional because it was overly vague.\nFirst Amendment cases are tricky because of the obvious need to protect social order while at the same time protecting civil liberties. Yet some concessions must be made for safety. As the old cliché goes, no one has the right to yell "fire!" in a crowded theatre, unless there truly is a fire.\nThe bill is in a sense a public safety measure. The bill's author, Sen. Brent Steele, R-Bedford, said that during funerals "people are at their most frazzled moment emotionally" and such disturbances could easily set someone off. In this instance, it's better to prevent violence from taking place rather than trying to stop it once it starts. In effect, the funeral protest bill protects innocent families, who certainly have a right to safety and privacy in their most personal of times, from groups like Westboro Baptist Church, who certainly have a right to protest without intimidating the grieving.\nThe Westboro church has proven itself to be unimpeded by the $50 disorderly conduct fine already in place. If a law banning protests within 500 feet of a funeral is what it takes to keep the grieving of families civil and safe, then so be it.