Protecting the Honor of Our Fallen Heroes
At the American Center for Law and Justice, we get many phone calls asking for assistance concerning a variety of issues. Not long ago, we received a call from Debbie Lee in Oregon with an unusual request.
She was about to bury her son a highly-decorated Navy SEAL who was killed in Iraq. Navy Petty Officer Second Class Marc Alan Lee was part of an American military force battling insurgents in Ramadi. During the firefight, Lee helped hold off the enemy so his team could rescue a wounded colleague. During the battle, Lee was fatally wounded.
As if the Lee family wasnt facing enough grief and sorrow, there was a new problem. A group of protesters backed by the ACLU intended to disrupt and berate this family during the funeral service in Hood River, Oregon.
When Debbie Lee called the ACLJ asking for assistance, I immediately assembled a senior legal team to address this issue. We provided city officials with a legal analysis of the issue assuring them they had the legal right to prevent this funeral from being disrupted.
These protesters are targeting military funerals around the country. They certainly have a right to express their opinions but they have adopted a twisted view of the First Amendment.
While we fully support free speech, the law has long recognized that reasonable time, place, and manner regulations of speech are constitutional, especially at events like a funeral. Simply put, these disruptive protests do not represent the time, place or the appropriate manner to protest the war. The law is clear that these funeral protesters do not have an absolute right to protest whenever, wherever, and however they want to without regard to how others are affected by their actions. Supreme Court precedent clearly gives local governments and states the authority to act to prohibit this kind of disrespectful and hateful behavior.
Like Marc Alan Lee, the men and women of the Armed Forces who have given their lives for our freedoms deserve our honor and respect. The family and friends of these fallen heroes must be afforded peace and privacy at funeral services. It is not only wrong but inappropriate for protesters to disrupt and berate these families.
There is now a legislative push underway across America to protect military funerals. The ACLJ supported the Respect for Americas Fallen Heroes Act which prohibits demonstrations on or immediately adjacent to federally operated cemeteries during funerals. The Act received nearly unanimous approval by Congress and was signed into law by President Bush. The Act also stated: It is the sense of Congress that each State should enact legislation to restrict demonstrations near any military funeral.
At the ACLJ, we stand ready to work with local and state governments who need legal assistance to protect the rights of our fallen military heroes, their families and friends. And the ACLJ is prepared to meet challenges by the ACLU aimed a derailing legislative efforts that curtail these protests.
The life and death of Petty Officer Lee was celebrated at a funeral service not long ago in Hood River, Oregon.
In a statement, Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski said that Petty Officer Lees service and sacrifice for our country places us forever in his debt. The Governor added that Lees valiant service to risk his own life in defense of freedom in Iraq is a testament to his character.
I am happy to report that the funeral itself was conducted with dignity and respect. A few protesters showed up but they were overshadowed by the large turnout from the community and from a special group called the Patriot Guard Riders a group of motorcyclists who attend many military funerals. They screened the Lee family and friends keeping the protesters away. As The Oregonian reported: A bagpiper played to drown out the shouts, and a few riders revved Harleys for the same reason. But ultimately, it was a dignified show of strength that caused the protesters to pack up and leave.
The Lee family is proud of their son and the service he provided to his country. As Christians, the Lee family also knows that Marc did not die in vain. As Marcs mother told me, God is going to use not just Marcs life - but Marcs death for His eternity.
Our prayers are with the Lee family and the others who have lost loved ones in this War on Terror. At the ACLJ, we will continue to work to ensure that families of our fallen heroes can bury their loved ones in peace. They deserve nothing less.