Montana § 45-8-116 - Funeral Picketing -- Penalties

§ 45-8-116. Funeral Picketing -- Penalties

Funeral picketing -- penalties. (1) A person commits the offense of funeral picketing if the person knowingly engages in picketing within 1,500 feet of any property boundary entrance to or exit from a funeral site during the period from 1 hour before the scheduled commencement of the funeral services until 1 hour after the actual completion of the funeral services. (2) A person convicted of funeral picketing shall be fined an amount not less than $250 and not more than $1,000 or be imprisoned in the county jail for a term not to exceed 12 months, or both. (3) This section does not affect any proceeding against a person for violation of any other provision of law. A district court may enjoin conduct proscribed by this section. (4) In addition to, and not in lieu of, the penalties provided for in subsection (2), a district court may in a civil action award damages, including punitive damages, attorney fees, and other appropriate relief, to a person who suffers injury as a result of activity that may be a violation of this section. (5) As used in this section, the following definitions apply: (a) "Funeral" or "funeral services" means the ceremonies, rituals, and memorial services held in connection with the memorial of a deceased person or in connection with the burial, cremation, or other disposition of a human body, including the assembly and dispersal of the persons attending the funeral. (b) "Funeral site" means a church, synagogue, mosque, funeral home, mortuary, cemetery, gravesite, mausoleum, or other public or private place where a funeral is conducted. (c) "Picketing" means the making of any noise or diversion that can reasonably be expected to disturb a funeral by: (i) standing, sitting, or repeated walking, riding, driving, or other similar action by a person displaying or carrying a banner, placard, flag, sign, or similar device that is not a part of the funeral services; (ii) engaging, with or without the use of a sound amplification device, in loud oration, speech, singing, chanting, whistling, or yelling that is not part of the funeral services; (iii) distributing any handbill, pamphlet, leaflet, or other written or printed material other than written material that is distributed as part of the funeral services; or (iv) obstructing or preventing the intended uses of a public street, public sidewalk, or other public space.