Topeka, KS – Kansas Attorney General Steve Six has asked his fellow Attorneys General to join him in supporting the family of Marine Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder and their appeal to the Supreme Court in the case of Snyder v. Phelps.

In a draft of an amicus brief that will be filed the first of June, Attorney General Six is supporting the Snyder family’s arguments and standing up for the rights of all families to mourn their loved ones with dignity and respect.

“It is important that my office lead this effort, both because of my commitment to our nation’s troops and my opposition to the vile message spread by the Phelpses and their supporters,” said Attorney General Six. “Funeral goers are a captive audience and they are engaged in a deeply personal and private mourning process. The Constitution does not give the Phelpses the right to hijack solemn proceedings such as funerals in order to spread their hateful ideas.”

States have very strong interests in this case. For example, more than 40 States have enacted “funeral picketing” or “funeral protest” statutes that regulate the conduct at issue in this case, demonstrating the importance states attach to funerals and the privacy of funeral attendees.

“When I took office, my first legislative priority was to get a constitutional funeral picketing ban passed in the Legislature and correct a defective bill that had been passed the year before," Six said. “I am proud to say we were successful in crafting our funeral picketing ban. In our brief to the Supreme Court, we will be arguing in part that such laws are constitutional and should be upheld.”

Attorney General Six is hopeful each fellow Attorney General will join in supporting the rights of funeral goers and our nation’s troops.