Los Angeles Times: Sen. Ted LIeu's bill on protecting grieving families from disruptive protests cited
By Patrick McGreevy and Michael J. Mishak, Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Sacramento -- State lawmakers Wednesday advanced measures that would allow undocumented university students to apply for financial aid, would help police monitor use of social networking websites by sex offenders and would end the fingerprinting of food stamp recipients.
Legislators also moved on bids to prevent Bell-style financial scandals, pension "spiking" and disruptive picketing at military funerals.
The bills were among more than 200 passed by the Senate or Assembly and sent to the other house.
Another bill advanced by the Senate would make it a misdemeanor to picket a funeral in a disruptive way unless protesters are at least 1,000 feet away and on public property. Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) said his legislation would preserve "the sanctity and dignity of funerals."
The vote follows a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that a Kansas church has a constitutional right to picket military funerals as part of a campaign asserting that the deaths of U.S. soldiers are divine retribution for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality. No lawmakers spoke out against Lieu's measure, SB 888, in Wednesday's session.
