Decision awaited in flag case

A Sarpy County judge on Friday set no timetable for a ruling in a case that questions whether Nebraska’s flag-desecration law violates the free speech rights of a woman who let her child stand on the flag during the funeral of a soldier.

Shirley Phelps-Roper of Topeka, Kan., was charged with violating the law in 2007. She and her attorney, Bassel El-Kasaby, are appealing a county court ruling that upheld the law.

Sarpy County District Judge William Zastera told El-Kasaby and the prosecutor Friday that he will review their arguments and rule later. The attorneys made no oral arguments.

Authorities say Phelps-Roper let her then-10-year-old son stand on an American flag at the funeral of a National Guardsman in Bellevue. They also say she wore a flag as a skirt that dragged on the ground.

Phelps-Roper is a member of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, whose members say U.S. troop deaths are punishment for the nation’s tolerance for homosexuality.

She also faces charges of disturbing the peace, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and negligent child abuse. El-Kasaby argues the application of those charges is unconstitutional because they stem from the flag-desecration charge.