South Dakota has enacted a law to ban protests within 1,000 feet of a funeral from one hour before until four hours after the ceremony. The law was passed in response to picketers who appeared at the funerals of U.S. soldiers who died in Iraq. Lawmakers rewote the bill before passage to ensure it would not violate constitutional guarantees of free speech and the right of assembly.
Similar legislation is under consideration in Oklahoma. The Oklahoma bill is partly a response to the protests by the Westboro Baptist Church at the funeral of fallen soldiers. The church claims that the deaths of U.S. soldiers are due to U.S. acceptance of homosexuality.
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