The California Senate has unanimously approved a measure that would require military funeral protesters to stay 500 feet away from funeral services within an hour of those services taking place.
Reuters reports a similar bill made it to Governor Jerry Brown's desk last year, but he vetoed it. Brown said it violated protesters' free speech rights - rights that were protected by a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision. That decision declared the Westboro Baptist Church (which protested military funerals because of its belief wars were God's punishment for America's "acceptance" of gays and lesbians) had the First Amendment right to picket the funerals of fallen servicemembers.
In this year's bill, Senator Ted Lieu cut down the buffer zone required in the measure by half, from 1000 to 500 feet, with hopes of getting Brown's signature. Lieu said in a statement:
