Senator Olympia Snowe's Bill to Give Military Funerals More Protection

Bill to Give Military Funerals More Protection

April 14, 2011
Portland Press Herald
WASHINGTON -- Families of fallen troops "have earned the right to bury their loved ones in peace," says U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe.
And in the wake of a Supreme Court decision earlier this year to permit the Westboro Baptist Church to carry on its disruptive protests at military funerals, lawmakers must step in with stronger protections for those families, says Snowe, R-Maine.
On Wednesday, Snowe introduced the Sanctity of Eternal Rest for Veterans Act -- dubbed the SERVE Act -- an effort to keep raucous protesters from getting too close to military funerals and increase penalties for breaking the rules of conduct.
Snowe's involvement in the issue was prompted by a Maine high school student's campaign to ban such protests.
"Those who fight and die in the service of our country deserve our highest respect," Snowe said in a prepared statement. "The SERVE Act strikes a balance between the sanctity of a funeral service and the right to free speech."
Snowe's proposal would alter federal law to increase the "quiet time" in which protests are prohibited before and after military funerals from one hour to two hours, and increase the distance that protesters must stay from services.
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Bill to Give Military Funerals More Protection