SEIU union against Ill. bill to ban funeral protests

Illinois is one of the states that has pending legislation working its way through the state legislature to ban, if not limit, protests at funerals.

The bill, sponsored by Ill. Lt. Governor Pat Quinn, a Democrat, was introduced to the legislature in January. Quinn, with little public fanfare, attends almost all funerals of Illinois military personnel killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The bill is designed to curb the efforts by Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church. That group has ruined many military funerals in that last year.

The Service Employees Union is against the Ill. funeral protest bill. According to Mark Gordon, a Republican staffer for the Illinois Senate Republicans, SEIU wants to maintain the right to protest at funerals.

It's fair to say that Lt. Governor Pat Quinn and Senate Republicans don't find themselves on the same side very frequently.

But, Senate Republicans have been strong supporters of a Quinn-backed effort to protect the families of veterans from disruptive protests at funerals. In recent days, both Quinn and Senate Republicans have become more vocal in their support after Senate President Emil Jones put a brick on what was generally considered to be a non-controversial plan.

House Bill 4532 -- the "Let Them Rest in Peace Act" -- is a bipartisan initiative backed by Lt. Governor Pat Quinn that would prohibit loud and inflammatory protests within 200 feet of all Illinois funeral services beginning 30 minutes before a funeral, during a funeral, and 30 minutes after a funeral.

According to news reports, the Senate Democrat leadership has bowed to the demands of the Service Employees International Union, which wants to be able to picket at funerals. Both Quinn and Senate Republicans have warned that any attempt to exempt union picketing would likely make the bill unconstitutional.

State Senator Dale Righter (R-Mattoon) has filed a motion to discharge the bill from the Rules Committee; but so far the Senate leadership has refused to allow a vote on his motion, which would move the bill directly to the Senate for a vote.

The measure was inspired by actions of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, a fundamentalist group who recently became known for picketing the burials of soldiers and Marines killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

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