Pre-Trial Hearing Held In Charges Against Anti-Gay Funeral Protesters

Yesterday anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church leader Shirley Phelps-Roper appeared at a pre-trial hearing in a Sarpy County (Nebraska) Court. Bellevue, Nebraska police charge her with flag mutilation, disturbing the peace, negligent child abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, all growing out of one of Westboro's funeral protests in which Phelps-Roper's 10-year-old son stomped on an American flag. Yesterday's Omaha World-Herald reports that the pretrial hearing focused on a defense motion requesting that the prosecution describe in detail the facts that support each of the charges. Later Phelps-Roper said that her son, Jason, had grown up attending protests and acted on his own in standing on the flag that he placed on the ground. The court asked both sides to submit written arguments on the defense motion. (See prior related posting.)