Veterans and Military Families Caucus

Yesterday the Richmond Times Dispatch reported that the Attorney General failed to join 48 other states in filing a supporting legal brief on behalf of Albert Snyder, the father of a soldier killed in Iraq whose funeral in Maryland was picketed by Westboro Baptist Church of Kansas, a hate group.  The Attorney General stated that case could threaten free speech.

“What’s remarkable about that statement is the utter hypocrisy of it,” stated David Mills, Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Virginia.  “For the Attorney General to decide to become a 1st Amendment champion now is worse than disingenuous – it’s selective justice.  True freedom is predicated on a uniform application of the law toward all citizens.  Attorney General Cuccinelli sees nothing wrong with a hypocritical and grossly subjective application of the law, and that practice constitutes a greater risk to our freedom than any single court case.”

In a statement issued late yesterday, House Minority Leader Ward Armstrong said “It’s a bit disingenuous for the Attorney General to claim that he is the protector of free speech when he is currently seeking to quell the free speech of a Professor at the University of Virginia,” said Armstrong.

“I’m a big proponent of the First Amendment right of free speech, but there are some forms of speech that are regulated. You can’t shout fire in a crowded theater. These veterans and their families have rights too. Our fallen servicemen and women have the right to a funeral that is treated with the respect and honor they deserve.”

The Attorney General has missed an important opportunity to stand up for Virginia’s military families, according to the DPVA’s Veterans and Military Families Caucus.

“Families of the fallen have the right to peacefully and respectfully say goodbye to their loved ones.  The Attorney General should have put his support behind these families, just as 48 other Attorneys General did around the nation.  Now Virginia’s military families have more support from Attorneys General in other states — then they do from their own,” said Joseph Harmon, chair of the DPVA Veterans and Military Families Caucus. …more

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli declined to join a brief supporting a suit against anti-gay protesters who frequently demonstrate at military funerals.

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli yesterday again asserted the legal independence that has drawn controversy to his office — this time by not joining a high-profile lawsuit.

Cuccinelli’s office announced that it is not joining 48 other states in filing a supporting legal brief on behalf of Albert Snyder, the father of a soldier killed in Iraq whose funeral in Maryland was picketed by Westboro Baptist Church of Kansas, a hate group.

Among other things, the church pickets funerals of American soldiers, claiming God has killed them for defending a nation of “sodomite hypocrites.”

Snyder is suing Westboro and its pastor, the Rev. Fred W. Phelps, for what he alleges was a disruption of the funeral for his son, Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq in 2006. Church members have become nationally known for heckling at military funerals and hoisting signs that berate mourners with slogans such as “You’re in hell” and “God hates you.”

After Snyder won a $5 million verdict in district court, an appeals court reversed the decision, saying the Westboro protestors were exercising their First Amendment right to free speech. The case is now moving to the U.S. Supreme Court. …more