Abstract
This Note will analyze the constitutionality of Missouri's funeral-protest statutes under the First Amendment. This Note argues that, with certain changes, Missouri's funeral-protest statutes should pass constitutional muster. In Part II, this Note analyzes the facts and holding of Phelps-Roper v. Koster. Next, in Part III, this Note explores the legal background of the First Amendment, time, place, and manner restrictions, and how other courts have decided cases involving funeral-protest laws. Part IV examines the court's rationale in Phelps-Roper v. Koster. Lastly, Part V explains where the district court erred and how Missouri's funeral-protest statutes can be changed to become constitutional time, place, and manner restrictions. This Note concludes with a challenge to the Missouri legislature to draft and enact a constitutional funeral-protest statute and a hope that discussion by the Supreme Court of the United States will allow Missouri to do so.
Recommended Citation
Madison Marcolla,
Protecting the Living and the Dead: How Missouri Can Enact a Constitutional Funeral-Protest Statute,
77 Mo. L. Rev.
(2012)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/mlr/vol77/iss2/8