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Woman whose son stomped on flag attacks law

PAPILLION, Neb. — Nebraska’s law to protect the American flag is unconstitutional, says a legal challenge filed for a Kansas woman.

Shirley Phelps-Roper has been charged with letting her 10-year-old son, Jonah, stomp on an American flag outside a Bellevue soldier’s funeral in June.

She also was charged with negligent child abuse, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and disturbing the peace.

Nebraska’s flag law defines flag mutilation as when a “person intentionally casts contempt or ridicule upon a flag by mutilating, defacing, defiling, burning, or trampling upon such flag.”

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Phelps-Roper, who is also a lawyer, has noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has struck down laws forbidding flag desecration.

She is a member of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka and the daughter of the church’s founder, the Rev. Fred Phelps.

Westboro Baptist says that troop deaths are God’s judgment against America for tolerating homosexuals. Phelps-Roper’s father founded the church, which has protested at military funerals in Nebraska and across the nation.

The June 5 funeral in Bellevue was for Nebraska Army National Guard Spc. William “Bill” Bailey, who was killed May 25 when an explosive device struck his vehicle in Iraq.

Last month the Bellevue City Council barred church members from protesting outside the funeral of a sailor killed in Iraq.

Phelps-Roper’s attorney filed a motion in Sarpy County Court last week to throw out the state law, saying it violates her right to free speech.

The motion also said Sarpy County Attorney Lee Polikov’s public statements have “effectively polluted the jury pool” to the extent Phelps-Roper can’t get a fair trial in the state.

Phelps-Roper attorney Bassel El-Kasaby said he has several Polikov statements to illustrate the point.

Polikov said the complaint was hypocritical.

“This is an attempt to limit my free speech,” he said Monday. “The cornerstone of their case is free speech.”

A November hearing has been set on a defense motion that asks the prosecution to detail the facts supporting its charges against Phelps-Roper.