PORTLAND -- Oregon lawmakers are considering a bill that would keep picketers a certain distance away from funerals.
The discussion comes one day after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to protect anti-gay speech coming from protesters who chronically attend military funerals.
Proponents of Oregon House Bill 3241 hope it would survive legal challenges because it buffers protesters at those funerals instead of making an attempt to ban them outright.
The protesters responsible are from a Baptist church based in Kansas, founded by the Phelps family.
In Oregon, HB 3241 would create 300-foot and one-hour buffer zones between picketers and memorial services. "The priority should be on protecting our families versus the priority of a group, a hate group that's specifically out to hurt people to gain attention on their own cause," said bill proponent Becky Ginsbach, mother of a full-time Army soldier.
The ACLU of Oregon has opposed the bill because, it says, Oregon's free speech protections are even more stringent than those in the U.S. Constitution.
HB 3241 is sponsored by two-thirds of the Oregon House.
