CHUD.com Community › Forums › POLITICS & RELIGION › Religion A-Z › Phelps family member headed to jail?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Phelps family member headed to jail?

post #1 of 25
7/6/07 at 6:02pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Phelps family member charged after son steps on flag
By Oskar Garcia
The Associated Press
Published Friday, July 06, 2007

OMAHA, Neb. — A Topeka woman whose church protests at military funerals across the nation was charged Thursday with four misdemeanors after her son stomped on a U.S. flag during a demonstration in Bellevue.

Shirley Phelps-Roper, 49, was charged with negligent child abuse, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, flag mutilation and disturbing the peace.

"I have not failed to do my duty to my children, to my God or to my fellow countrymen, and I take my job dead serious," Phelps-Roper said Thursday, vowing to aggressively fight the charges.

The charges were filed in Sarpy County Court by County Attorney Lee Polikov. A message left Thursday afternoon for Polikov wasn't immediately returned.

Phelps-Roper said Polikov "has pointed the big guns of government at my liberty and at my children."

The American Civil Liberties Union likely will represent Phelps-Roper and was waiting for official approval from its board, said Laurel Marsh, executive director of ACLU Nebraska.

Phelps-Roper acknowledged she allowed her 10-year-old son, Jonah, to stand on the flag. She said the act qualifies as freedom of expression, and she promises to challenge the constitutionality of the flag-mutilation charge. She noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has struck down laws forbidding flag desecration.

According to Nebraska's flag law, "A person commits the offense of mutilating a flag if such person intentionally casts contempt or ridicule upon a flag by mutilating, defacing, defiling, burning or trampling upon such flag."

Phelps-Roper is a member of the Westboro Baptist Church and the daughter of the church's founder, Pastor Fred Phelps.

Phelps-Roper said church members have protested at hundreds of military funerals across the country for 17 years. Westboro's message during funeral protests is that the soldier deaths are God's punishment for the nation accepting homosexuals.

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

Personally, I think flag mutilation shouldn't be outlawed, freedom of speech right? However, anything to bring these knuckledraggers down is fine by me.
Reply
post #2 of 25
7/6/07 at 6:06pm
Yeah, as much as I'd like to see Phelps and his entire clan raped by orangutans, this isn't what the should be punished for.
Reply
post #3 of 25
7/6/07 at 6:28pm
Damn, it is difficult in this case to stand by Voltaire's, "I disapprove of what you say but will defend to the death your right to say it."

I think the charges are an abuse of the law but... protesting at soldiers' funerals and saying their deaths are because of homosexuality? Jesus...
Reply
post #4 of 25
7/6/07 at 7:27pm
I hear Miranda wasn't a particularly sympathetic character, either.
Reply
post #5 of 25
7/6/07 at 8:20pm
She was on the liberal talk station here in L.A. this afternoon. I waited on hold for an hour before I finally got through and could call her a coward and a sociopath. They ended up dumping me before I could finish. But I feel better now.
Reply
post #6 of 25
7/6/07 at 10:48pm
Not much we can do to curtail their free speech, but damn if these fuckers did this shit to a friend or relative of mine, I think I would gladly serve the jail time that would follow. It would be so worth it to knock their fucking blocks off.
Reply
post #7 of 25
7/6/07 at 11:36pm
Wow...Omaha's been getting some publicity lately. With this story and the news about the shark that procreated asexually, we'll be in the national spotlight in about 100 years.

Has anyone else read Patton Oswalt's rant on Phelps in the latest issue of Spin? It's good for a chuckle if you get the chance to read it.
Reply
post #8 of 25
7/7/07 at 2:49am


I'll warm up the paddy wagon.
Reply
post #9 of 25
7/7/07 at 3:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankCobretti
I hear Miranda wasn't a particularly sympathetic character, either.
Frank speaks truth. If you can't support the principle of free speech when it's exercised by people who make your blood boil, then you don't actually have principles at all.
Reply
post #10 of 25
7/7/07 at 8:43am
Is it really child abuse when they're your uncles too?
Reply
post #11 of 25
7/9/07 at 10:34am
I would be seriously pissed if the charges aren't dropped. As much as I would like to see this asshole get in trouble, it's not worth setting yet another legal precedent for curtailing our freedoms.
Reply
post #12 of 25
7/9/07 at 8:15pm
They should be able express themselves however they like, and the family of the deceased should be able to seek damages for ruining the funeral of a loved one.
Reply
post #13 of 25
7/9/07 at 10:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by KaPabLe
They should be able express themselves however they like, and the family of the deceased should be able to seek damages for ruining the funeral of a loved one.
Sounds great to me.
Reply
post #14 of 25
7/9/07 at 10:33pm
Throw the book at them. There are far worse injustices to fight, and so little time.
Reply
post #15 of 25
7/9/07 at 10:36pm
You don't fight injustice by denying people civil rights, Cap.
Reply
post #16 of 25
7/9/07 at 10:41pm
I know, I know.

However, I can't be a hypocrite and say I'm feeling bad for these people. They do go to funerals to terrorize the families of dead service men! We shouldn't deny their rights, but that doesn't mean we have to go out of our way to protect their rights to terrorize other families.

I wouldn't mind if the ACLU allocated Mr. Magoo or Inspector Gadget to defend their case, I'm sure there's another cause somewhere in the country that can use better talent.
Reply
post #17 of 25
7/9/07 at 11:05pm
It's not like I'm advocating this because I feel like the Phelps are helpless victims here. But it's important to fight these battles over bullshit like this so it never reaches the point that I'm on trial for making derogatory comments about the president on a message board.
Reply
post #18 of 25
7/9/07 at 11:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Schwartz
Frank speaks truth. If you can't support the principle of free speech when it's exercised by people who make your blood boil, then you don't actually have principles at all.
A very succinct summation of my problem with everyone who has ever insulted someone for their membership in the ACLU.

EDIT: Removed needless political bias.
Reply
post #19 of 25
7/11/07 at 3:01pm
Doesn't someone defacing a flag and yelling obscenities qualify as a violation of the civil liberties of the people at the funeral? Like the liberty to be able to attend a peaceful funeral?
Reply
post #20 of 25
7/11/07 at 3:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by KaPabLe
Doesn't someone defacing a flag and yelling obscenities qualify as a violation of the civil liberties of the people at the funeral? Like the liberty to be able to attend a peaceful funeral?
No. They stay on public property. As awful as they are (I pass them every day), they have every right to be there.. A good portion of the family are lawyers, and they are usually very careful to stay within legal bounds.
Reply
post #21 of 25
7/11/07 at 3:47pm
By all means, if they step one inch over the line and can be held liable for harassment or trespassing, launch the fucking book at them with a potato gun. But for stepping on the flag? No.
Reply
post #22 of 25
7/12/07 at 5:05pm
What about like... Noise pollution?
Reply
post #23 of 25
7/12/07 at 5:43pm
Personal tort claims by the family for harrassment and the intentional inflictment of emotional distress would suit me better.
Reply
post #24 of 25
7/12/07 at 7:47pm
thats what i meant
Reply
post #25 of 25
7/13/07 at 12:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Schwartz
Personal tort claims by the family for harrassment and the intentional inflictment of emotional distress would suit me better.
Not sure about US case law (or even statutory offences), but in Australia, you probably couldn't get them for harrassment under Private Nuisance if they are on public land. The family and or attendees at the funeral would have to approach the Municipal Authority about a complaint for Public Nuisance, and pending that, the Authority would have to make the claim on behalf of the private individuals.

I think the fine point about harrassment would be whether the carry-on the Phelps et al are creating is directed personally towards the family or members of the public attending the funerals, or if they are being hideously obnoxious and offensive in general. If the latter, I'd go after them for noise, or obstruction of personal liberty if they were blocking individuals' paths of movement (ie: obstructing or besetting the public).

But, hey, I'm only a newbie lawyer in Australia. Others of more extensive experience in the correct jurisdiction would be better informed than me!
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Religion A-Z
CHUD.com Community › Forums › POLITICS & RELIGION › Religion A-Z › Phelps family member headed to jail?