Religious Bigots Find a Home in the Kansas Prison Industry

Excerpted paragraphs

Counterpunch, Out of Bounds Magazine/December 7, 2006
By Alex Friedman

The Westboro Baptist Church protests include inflammatory picket signs, name-calling, desecration of the American flag, and an extra helping of Phelps' hate-filled philosophy. Laws have been enacted across the nation to limit such funeral demonstrations, including federal legislation signed into law in May 2006, but several such measures have been struck down by courts on free speech grounds.

Interestingly, many of the Phelps are attorneys. Patriarch Fred Phelps, Sr., who had a lengthy law career, has been disbarred; eleven of his 13 children are lawyers. More interestingly, six of the Phelps family are or were previously employed by various jails and the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Margie Phelps, an attorney, currently works for the Kansas Dept. of Correction as the agency's Director of Re-entry Planning; she attends the group's funeral protests outside of work hours. Her brother, Fred Phelps, Jr., a former parole officer, is a staff attorney with the Kansas DOC. Both Margie and Fred Jr. were previously temporarily suspended from practicing law following disciplinary action. Timothy Phelps is presently employed as a spokesman for the Shawnee County Dept. of Corrections. Lee Ann Phelps and Elizabeth Phelps both formerly held positions with the Shawnee County Sheriff's Department, while Abigail Phelps, another active participant in the group's funeral protests, works in the staff development office for Kansas' Juvenile Justice Authority.

Despite their hate-filled, anti-American ranting outside the workplace, the Phelps' personal beliefs apparently do not affect their on-the-job performance. Jack Rickerson, director of the state's human resources department, stated that Margie Phelps' activities outside of work "violated no state policy." Kansas DOC Secretary Roger Werholtz was quoted as saying, "I don't agree with her views," but said Margie Phelps was "a good employee." Kansas state Senator Jean Schodorf called the situation an embarrassment, stating that members of the Phelps clan employed in corrections " kind of flaunt that they work for the state and can't be terminated" due to civil service protections.

Under the belief that practicing law and acting as an officer of the court are inherently inconsistent with the hate-mongering practiced by members of the Phelps clan, in February 2006, Prison Legal News associate editor Alex Friedmann filed an ethics complaint against Shirley L. Phelps-Roper. Phelps-Roper, an attorney with the family's law firm, Phelps Chartered, actively participates in the church's funeral protests. The state Office of the Disciplinary Administrator, however, refused to file the complaint, stating First Amendment concerns would "preclude a successful investigation and prosecution of the Phelps." A request for reconsideration of the Disciplinary Administrator's decision was refused.

Apparently fanatical hate, inflammatory name-calling and intolerance are acceptable practices for attorneys--and prison and jail employees--in the state of Kansas.