Military funerals Bill passed

US President George Bush yesterday signed into law a bill that restricts protests at military funerals.

In a move which coincided with the Memorial Day commemorations for fallen soldiers, Mr Bush signed the Respect for America’s Fallen Heroes Act. The law was passed by Congress largely in response to the activities of a Kansas church group that has staged protests at military funerals around the country, claiming the deaths symbolised God’s anger at US tolerance of homosexuals.

The new law bars protests within 300 feet of the entrance of a national cemetery and within 150 feet of a road into the cemetery.

This restriction applies an hour before until an hour after a funeral.

Those violating the act would face up to a $100,000 fine and up to a year in prison.