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LANSING, Mich. (AP) – The American Civil Liberties Union says
Michigan’s 2006 law restricting protests at funerals is unconstitutional.
The ACLU filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday on behalf of a 64-year-old Army veteran and his late wife.
They were arrested in 2007 in Clare County while driving in a funeral procession of a friend who was killed in Iraq. They displayed signs in their van that were critical of President Bush.
The state law was passed to stop demonstrations by an anti-gay church that has protested at funerals of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.The law bans any intentional disruption of funerals within 500 feet of the ceremony.
The ACLU says Michigan’s law violates free speech rights and is unconstitutionally vague.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
AP-NY-04-01-09 1436EDT
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