Westboro Baptist Church Claims Discriminatory Enforcement of Nebraska Funeral Picketing Law

ABP reports that Shirley Phelps-Roper, a member of Westboro Baptist Church, last week filed an amended complaint in her "as applied" challenge to Nebraska's funeral picketing law.  The complaint alleges discriminatory enforcement of the law against Westboro, known particularly for its anti-gay picketing of military funerals.  It cites at least 16 instances of strict enforcement against Westboro picketers, keeping them blocks away, and says that counter-protesters such as motorcycle riders and other citizens are permitted to gather closer to funeral services. It also claims that local officials have taken legal action against Westboro picketers because of disagreement with their viewpoint. The case was remanded to the district court last April in an 8th Circuit decision in Phelps-Roper v. Troutman, following the 8th Circuit's en banc decision upholding Missouri's funeral picketing law.