A law has been passed which makes it unlawful to protest, picket, or conduct any other protest activity within 300 feet of any funeral or burial service. The ban is in effect from one hour before a funeral and one hour after.

The four-paragraph bill took effect immediately after being signed by Governor Jan Brewer in January, making it a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail.

Governor Jan Brewer said that the law will “assure that the victims of [the] tragic shooting in Tucson

will be laid to rest in peace with the full dignity and respect that they deserve."

The law targets the Westboro Baptist Church, a Kansas based church that protests funerals with signs saying things such as “Thank God for dead soldiers.” The church planned a protest at the funeral of nine-year-old Christina Taylor Green, one of six victims of the Tucson shooting.

According to ktar.com, the funeral was targeted because the church believes that “God sent the shooter to deal with idolatrous America.”

The bill passed unanimously in both the state Senate and House.

Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D) said that “this [protesting] is just horrific that… people have to deal with this. We shouldn't have to do this in time of great pain for our state.”

“[The political parties] have joined together to provide some small measure of comfort for families grieving over the loss of a loved one. During times of grief, families should be free from harassment or intimidation,” Senator Sinema said.

However, the protestors of the church claim that the ban won’t matter, since they planned to protest more than 1000 feet from the funeral.

Volunteers organized to form a human shield to block the protesters from the view of the victim’s family, according to cbsnews.com.

Arizona isn’t the only state affected by the notorious church. More than 40 states and even Congress have passed similar laws banning the protest of funerals. In fact, Arizona is one of the last states to enact such a law.

Kansas enabled a funeral protest law in 1992, and Congress passed the Dignity for Military Funerals Act in 2006, making it illegal to protest military funerals, and the Respect for America’s Fallen Heroes Act, which George W. Bush signed later that year.

These laws all impose both time and distance requirements for protests involving funerals and other burial services.