Columbus, Ohio ? Members of a Kansas church that pickets the funerals of dead soldiers say they will continue with plans for a protest Monday in northeast Ohio, despite a decision by a federal court upholding the state’s law limiting where they may stand.

The mother of the targeted soldier, Army Sgt. Robert Carr, was unfazed as she talked to The Associated Press on Saturday.

“We’re going to bury him in a hero’s way,” said Christine Wortman, of Warren. “It’s Robbie’s day, not theirs.”

On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Donald Nugent in Cleveland upheld a state law that prohibits protesters from being within 300 feet of a cemetery, funeral home or place of worship either one hour before or after a burial service.

However, Nugent struck down a portion of the 2006 law that extended the 300-foot buffer zone along funeral procession routes, saying it was unconstitutionally broad.

At least 27 states have enacted laws restricting funeral picketing, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The laws are aimed at Westboro Baptist Church, a small fundamentalist congregation in Topeka, Kan., whose members picket burials of U.S. troops killed in combat, arguing that the deaths are God’s punishment for the country’s tolerance of homosexuals.

The Ohio chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union sued along with a church member, saying the state cannot pass a law restricting freedom of speech.

Church members will confer with their attorney before deciding whether to appeal, said member Elizabeth Phelps, a member and daughter of founder Fred Phelps.

The church had sued on principle, but most of its protests are outside the buffer zone anyway because they want to be near heavy traffic to get their message to the most people, Phelps said.

The ruling won’t change anything about Monday’s planned protest in Warren by about seven members, she said.

While the protesters are usually outside the buffer zone, Phelps said, relatives and friends of the soldiers often angrily rush up to them.

Carr’s funeral is planned for Monday at Believers Christian Fellowship in Warren.

Carr, 22, died March 13 when an improvised explosive device detonated beneath the armored vehicle he was driving, said his father, Jeffrey Carr.