Senate Judiciary Committee Hears Pleas To Stop Flag Burning
WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, July 8) -- The Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony Wednesday from celebrities and a Medal of Honor winner in support of a constitutional amendment to "prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States."
The committee approved the measure last month and some Democrats have complained that Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) is holding hearing after the fact. But those attending Wednesday's session, including Los Angeles Dodgers general manager Tommy Lasorda and actor John Schneider, urged the full Senate to send the amendment to the states for final approval.
A constitutional amendment must win a two-thirds approval from the Senate and be ratified by at least 38 states before it can take effect. The House has already overwhelmingly approved the so-called flag burning amendment.
In 1989 the Supreme Court ruled that any legislated ban on flag desecration violates the free speech guarantee of the First Amendment. Since that time, members of Congress who support a ban have sought a constitutional remedy.
Lasorda told the committee about a 1976 flag-burning attempt at a Dodgers game. He called the act "one of the worst things that can happen in America."
"We all watched dumbstruck as the man pulled out a match and
tried to light the American flag to burn it," Lasorda said.
He went on to call player Rick Monday's grabbing of the flag before it was ignited "one of the most heroic acts ever to take place on the field during a major league baseball game."
Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) opposes the amendment but admits it is probably "the most politically unpopular position I could take."
Feingold said the change would be a great burden on America's right to freedom of speech and he was troubled by the "trend that has developed in the last couple of Congresses of using proposed constitutional amendments as the first and only solution to society's problems."
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