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Omaha, NE (AP) - A Kansas woman charged with violating Nebraska's flag-desecration law during a 2007 protest at a soldier's funeral wants the judge in her case removed because of his ties to a group that shields protesters at funerals, her attorney said Friday.

Omaha attorney Bassel El-Kasaby, who represents Shirley Phelps-Roper, said Douglas County Judge Lawrence Barrett has disclosed that he was involved as a member at some point with the Patriot Guard Riders. The motorcycle group attends military funerals and attempts to minimize disruptions from protesters, according to the group's mission statement.

Phelps-Roper is a member of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., known for protesting at military funerals to express the belief that U.S. troop deaths are punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.

El-Kasaby said Barrett didn't offer details about his involvement with the group.

When reached Friday, Barrett declined to discuss his involvement with the group. He said when he was assigned to the case in recent weeks, he didn't know what it entailed until he read through the case files. He called El-Kasaby and the prosecutor immediately to disclose his affiliation, he said.

If Barrett remains on the case, it would force Phelps-Roper to strongly question his impartiality and that's not fair, El-Kasaby said. "The Patriot Guard's activity against (Phelps-Roper) has been too intense, long-standing, and directly related to activities exactly like those at issue in this case, to leave any person comfortable having a judge who associated in any measure with the Patriot Guard on this case," he wrote in court documents filed Thursday.

Phelps-Roper said skirmishes with the group have extended beyond military funerals.

Messages left Friday with members of Nebraska's Patriot Guard Riders weren't immediately returned.

Judicial officials assigned Barrett to the case following the recusal of Sarpy County Judge Todd Hutton. He stepped down earlier this month after he'd been named in a lawsuit brought by Phelps-Roper. She sued more than a dozen state officials in December alleging that her rights had been violated and challenging Nebraska's flag-desecration law and another that restricts protests at funeral sites.

Other judges in the district soon after removed themselves, too. Presiding Judge Jeffrey Funke said Friday that having one of their fellow judges named in a lawsuit created the appearance of bias and they felt a responsibility to avoid that. They asked Chief Justice Mike Heavican to reassign the case. Judicial officials routinely rely on availability when a new judge has to be assigned to a case.

Phelps-Roper is scheduled to be arraigned March 5 on the flag-desecration charge and three related charges - disturbing the peace, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and negligent child abuse. All four are misdemeanor offenses.

Authorities say Phelps-Roper let her then-10-year-old son stand on an American flag at the funeral of a National Guardsman in June 2007 in Bellevue. They also say she wore a flag as a skirt that dragged on the ground.

Nebraska's flag-desecration law bars intentionally "casting contempt or ridicule" upon an American or Nebraska flag.

In the motion filed Thursday, El-Kasaby requested that the arraignment be delayed until a different judge is assigned.

The case has been delayed repeatedly because El-Kasaby has raised constitutional challenges to the flag-desecration law. The Nebraska Supreme Court issued the most recent ruling rejecting his arguments.