Gov. Matt Blunt to honor area law enforcement officials

~A Kansas church group considered protesting during services.

Gov. Matt Blunt will recognize several area law officials today for their efforts in guaranteeing the funeral of a Jackson soldier was undisturbed by protesters.

Blunt issues proclamations just about every month, but today's presentation will be the first time Blunt has honored law enforcement members for upholding the new state law making it a crime to protest in front of or around a funeral's location, spokesman Brian Hauswirth said.

Jackson native Cpl. Jeremy Shank was killed in Iraq on Sept. 6. Days before the Sept. 17 funeral of Shank, a lawyer with Westboro Baptist Church requested Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle say how he interprets the state law, specifically the phrase "in front of or around."

The fundamentalist church, based in Topeka, Kan., claims God kills soldiers because the United States tolerates homosexuals, and the group has routinely protested at military funerals throughout the nation.

Swingle told the group's attorney the state statute would be enforced and her clients would "violate it at their peril."

The next day, Swingle learned the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of their client, a church member, for a temporary restraining order to block officials from enforcing the state law.

The suit, filed against Swingle, Jackson police chief James Humphreys and Sheriff John Jordan, claimed the statute regarding funeral protests was unconstitutionally vague.

In court Sept. 14, Swingle argued that past cases have shown free speech can be limited in terms of when and where. Also, Swingle said the federal court had no jurisdiction on whether a state statute was constitutional.

Judge Stephen Limbaugh Sr. of Cape Girardeau, who was randomly picked to preside over the lawsuit, ruled in favor of the defendants and said the plaintiffs failed to show they would suffer "irreparable harm" by having the state statute enforced.

"You felt like the stakes were high," Swingle said. "If you lose, these hate-mongers would be in your county creating a disturbance and detracting from the funeral service by injecting their brand of hate."

In case the lawsuit did not go the defendants' way or if the group still decided to protest the Jackson funeral, police were ready.

"We were preparing for them to show up and hoping that they wouldn't," Jackson police Lt. Chris Mouser said.

More than 70 officers from Jackson, Cape Girardeau, Cape Girardeau County, Sikeston, Mo., and the Missouri State Highway Patrol were on duty during the funeral.

Blunt chose to issue a proclamation for all the law enforcement groups involved in enforcing the statute.

"Ultimately, they were doing this to respect the dignity of Jeremy Shank, who gave his life to this country," Hauswirth said.

Mouser agreed, stating the large police turnout was on hand to deal with potential protesters, who never showed, as well as to show their support for Shank.

"As long as that family could lay their son to rest in peace, that's all we wanted," he said.

Expected to join Swingle, Humphreys, Jordan and Mouser in Blunt's Jefferson City office today are Cape Girardeau police chief Carl Kinnison, Sikeston Department of Public Safety director Drew Juden and several others in local law enforcement.

kmorrison@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127