As reported by the Washington Post and the AP, the Arizona House and Senate voted unanimously yesterday to restrict protest activity at funerals. Gov. Jan Brewer then signed the bill, and it went into effect immediately. The law, introduced by Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, prohibits picketing or other protest activities within 300 feet of a funeral or burial service and applies to the period from one hour before to one hour after such an event. Violators would be charged with a misdemeanor and could face punishment of six months in jail. The law is based on an Ohio statute upheld against First Amendment challenge in Phelps-Roper v. Strickland, 539 F.3d 356 (6th Cir. 2008). The legislation responds to the announcement that members of the Westboro Baptist Church plan to protest at the upcoming funerals of several victims of Saturday’s Tucson shooting. Shirley Phelps-Roper, a Westboro Baptist representative, is quoted in the AP report as saying that the new law would not change the church members’ plans because they had previously decided to picket at an intersection more than 1,000 feet from the church where the funeral for nine year old Christina Green will be held.
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