Mother cited for desecration of a flag at funeral protest

omoha.com ^ | 06/05/07 | JASON KUIPER

[TornadoAlley3]

A Kansas woman was arrested Tuesday after she had her 10-year-old son stomp on an American flag.

Shirley L. Phelps-Roper, 49, of Topeka, was protesting at the Bellevue funeral of Spc. William Bailey with a group from Westboro Baptist Church. The church, founded by her father, has protested at the funerals of numerous soldiers.

Bellevue Police Capt. Herb Evers said an officer saw a young boy stomping on an American flag.

Phelps-Roper was then cited for contributing to the delinquency of a minor and desecration of a flag. Both are misdemeanors. She was released from Sarpy County Jail after posting 10 percent of a $1,500 bond.

She has a July 11 court date scheduled.

A 1977 state law prohibits desecration of the flag: "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, who is an attorney, acknowledged that she allowed her 10-year-old son, Jonah, to stand on the flag ? an action she says is protected by the U.S. Constitution.

In 1990, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal law that outlawed burning the American flag.

"Punishing desecration of the flag dilutes the very freedom that makes this emblem so revered," the court said.

Sarpy County Attorney Lee Polikov said he is considering filing additional charges of child abuse and disturbing the peace. He is also looking at the correlation between hate crimes and hate speech and her acts.

Polikov said the mother interjected the boy into a volatile situation and thinks the group may have crossed the line to using fighting words toward the families of soldiers, which he said would not be protected under freedom of speech.

Phelps-Roper offered justification for the act.

"Every symbol of the rebellious, doomed America must necessarily be disrespected," she said. "The thing they worship, the flag, is worthless. It's a piece of cloth."

She said the Nebraska statute forbidding flag mutilation should have been repealed years ago.

"Those rogue cops cooked up this scheme," she said, "and now the question is whether the person who sits in the office of the prosecutor has character. If they pursue this, our next stop will be federal court in Nebraska to challenge that unconstitutional statute."

Polikov said the charges he will be filing are for strategic reasons, not gamesmanship.

"We won't shy away from desecration of the flag because of freedom of speech," he said. "We will get a new ruling on these charges. We will file every charge we think we can prove."

[fieldmarshaldj]

How nice. The trash Phelps family is spreading the hate to a 3rd generation.

[LouAvul]

Call Child Protective Services on this animal. She’s not fit to raise a dog, much less a child. No offense to dogs.

[don-o]

Good deal. This bunch of asshats need to be arrested every day

[Mr. Mojo]

Shirley L. Phelps-Roper, 49

Perhaps the ugliest woman, both inside and out, I've ever seen.

[kinoxi]

.......

[Army Air Corps]

Al Bore’s pals strike again.

[lightman]

Let’s hope the prosecution is successful and that the next step will be getting Ms. Phelps-Roper disbarred. That should slow down WBC’s #1 source of funds...suing its opponents.

[rlmorel]

Wow.

Folks, I am ready to accept the fact that these people are part of an extended psychology experiment to determine how far society will let people go before everyone else breaks and pummels them to within an inch of their lives.

Can people be this hateful?

Never mind. I answered my own question.

[Choose Ye This Day]

These Phelps wackos are going to burn in hell.

They are NOT Christians.

[bobby.223]

I can think of a few other things I’d to see happen to these commies other than being arrested.

[Choose Ye This Day]

No argument here.

[pandoraou812]

I’ve been saying that for a long time. IMHO these people are a cult & a dangerous one. I think by taking their small children to these protests, they are possibly endangering them. The hate they spew is certainly not healthy for a child.

[Huntress]

I think most of Fred Phelps’ kids are lawyers. Fred himself was disbarred years ago.

[pandoraou812]

ping

[LetGoNow]

Good treatment of Al Gore’s friends.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Pity the poor soul that had to tap that at 39 to get “it” knocked up. Yuck.

[don-o]

They spawn.

[DesScorp]

"Phelps-Roper was then cited for contributing to the delinquency of a minor and desecration of a flag. Both are misdemeanors. She was released from Sarpy County Jail after posting 10 percent of a $1,500 bond."

I'll guarantee you...I'll lay cash on it...that the ACLU will come running to defend them on this, with a smile on their lips.

[StarCMC]

Oh heck yeah!! I would've loved to see the spittle she spewed on her way to jail! LMAO!!!

 

WBC ping

To be on or off my WBC ping list, please FReepmail me!

[LetGoNow]

Demonic

I am not joking.

[Islander7]

I grew up a Baptist. These people are terrorists, not Baptist.

[stephenjohnbanker]

B U M P : )

[TornadoAlley3]

Roadside Bomb Hits Bailey’s Vehicle In Iraq

BELLEVUE, Neb. — Services will be held Tuesday for a member of the Nebraska Army National Guard killed last month in Iraq.

U.S. Army Reserve Spc. William Bailey III, 29, of Bellevue, was providing security for military convoys with the 755th Chemical Company when an explosive device struck his vehicle.

He was killed, and three other Nebraska soldiers were hurt in the May 25 incident.

Bailey’s body arrived in Nebraska on Saturday. Planeside honors were bestowed at Offutt Air Force Base. That was followed by a procession to the Bellevue Volunteer Fire Department, where Bailey had been a member.

A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Bellevue Christian Center. A graveside service with full military honors and traditional fire department honors will follow at the Bellevue Cemetery.

Bailey is survived by his wife, Deanna, and five children.

http://www.ketv.com

[Wil H]

Very interesting.

Looks like the law she violated states you cannot desecrate A flag, not THE flag.

So there is no constitutional issue here, since the law does not specifically protect the symbol of any institution, it just says you can’t desecrate flags.

GOTCHA Madame Phelps....:-)

BTW, a constitutional amendment to protect the American Flag is a waste of time, it’s unenforcible.

If the law prohibited the burning of the American flag some left wing nut could start a business selling burnable flags with 49 stars or 12 stripes. You have to look hard to see that it wasn’t a true American flag but the burner would get their message across just the same and no law would be broken in the process...

[MS.BEHAVIN]

They try and pull that S*** up here, and I’ll get to see it first hand!
Ms.B

[cubreporter]

When you are so eaten away inside by hatred...it’s bound to show on the face.

[StarCMC]

Was this the place those vermin were acting out? I don’t think they should be called protestors — that’s giving them too much credit.

[StarCMC]

Thank you, Spc. William Bailey III. You are a hero. RIP.

 

The Mansions of the Lord
Click the picture for music

To fallen soldiers let us sing
Where no rockets fly nor bullets wing
Our broken brothers let us bring
To the Mansions of the Lord

No more bleeding, no more fight
No prayers pleading through the night
Just divine embrace, eternal light
To the Mansions of the Lord.

Where no mothers cry and no children weep
We will stand and guard though the angels sleep
Through the ages safely keep
The Mansions of the Lord.

 

[american_ranger]

I have a son in Iraq.

He also served a year in Afghanistan.

If he is killed, and these bastards come to protest at his funeral,

They die. I will bury my son then I will destroy mine enemies.

[StarCMC]

BTTT!!!

[midway]

She’s a great candidate for Olbermaniac’s Worst Person in the World award. Think she’ll make it?

[StarCMC]

I hear that. And thank you and your son. You for raising a hero, and him for being one. Prayers for his safety and the success of his mission.

[dighton]

She’s a great candidate for Olbermaniac’s Worst Person in the World award.

“She would of been a good woman,” The Misfit said, “if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.”

— Flannery O’Connor, A Good Man Is Hard to Find.

[MS.BEHAVIN]

God Bless your Son!
Please thank him for me?
Tell him he’s my Hero!
Ms.B
Maine Patriot Guard

[ArmstedFragg]

it’s unenforcible.

I kind of like the idea of rewriting the definition of 'fighting words' to include flag burning.....

[MS.BEHAVIN]

Thank you, Ma’am!
Ms.B

[El Gato]

I hope she’ll also charged with malicious destruction of property not her own. The “desecration” charge is unlikely to hold up. It’s equivalent to flag burning, and the Supreme Court has said that is free speech. I don’t agree, but there it is.

[pandoraou812]

Prayers & thanks to your son. May God keep him safe. ~Pandora~

[El Gato]

They try and pull that S*** up here, and I’ll get to see it first hand! Ms.B

You think Nebraskans feel any different? Especially in a place like Bellvue, which is a military town, being host to only "regular" military base in the state, Offutt Air Force Base, formerly HQ of SAC, Strategic Air Command, and still home to Strategic Command.

If she's in jail, she's under guard for her own protection.

[Mr. Blonde]

Congratulations to this police chief for giving Phelps exactly what she wants, more coverage. Has anyone actually won against them in court? No way the flag desecration stands up in court. Just like in Texas v. Johnson this is "expressive conduct with an intentional and overwhelmingly apparent political nature."

And without this arrest we do more good by not giving them any attention. Ignoring them is the best course. Especially since this is the exact type of speech the first amendment is supposed to protect.

[DakotaRed]

The whole family should be deported to Iran. Let them and Ahmanutjob enjoy each other.

[Mr. Blonde]

Banning more speech? That is an interesting tack. It would make the fighting words doctrine interesting.

1. words which by their very utterance tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace.
2. naturally tend to provoke violent resentment.
3. fighting words must be directed at the person of the hearer
4. Burning the American Flag

One of those doesn't seem to belong. It would seem most courts would have a hard time resolving the first 3 with your addition. It is safe to say in this case it wouldn't be fighting words since there was no breach of the peace. At least not in the article despite the fact they want to charge her with that also. I will say in a lot of people it does naturally provokes violent resentment, but even still apparently not the people who saw it. And directed at the person of the hearer, again maybe since it is directed at everyone. However, fighting words has to meet all of the criteria and it clearly didn't meet the first one in this case. Outside of the police chief it doesn't appear that anyone was terribly upset when the event happened.

[MamaB]

11 out of 14 are.

[Tamar1973]

Looks like Papa in drag!

[MS.BEHAVIN]

No, I don’t think Nebraskans feel any different..
after all, I married one!
He co-sponsered a bill up here that severly limits protesting at funerals.
1000 feet is the closest they can get, and they may NOT harass the mourners in any shape, manner or form.
Ms.B

[MS.BEHAVIN]

PING!!!

[reagan_fanatic]

The whole Phelps clan is nothing but a bunch of self-serving, publicity hungry media whores.

They are nothing but human debris and scum.

[PalestrinaGal0317]

Star CMC:

Am I correct that the song playing in your post is from the soundtrack to We Were Soldiers ? Great movie, great song, very appropriate. Thanks! :)

As for that Phelps thing...there is something truly wrong with a country that tolerates such nonsense at the funerals of heroes. Free speech is one thing. Desecration is another.

Of course I realize that the charges will never hold up in court. All the same--good for those officers for getting her the heck away (under whatever reason) from the funeral.

[StarCMC]

Yes — you’re correct. It’s a beautiful song - I’m glad you enjoyed it.