From: Subject: firstamendmentcenter.org: news Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2005 12:36:29 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0000_01C57014.85FD1620"; type="text/html" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1441 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0000_01C57014.85FD1620 Content-Type: text/html; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=15418&printer-friendly=y =EF=BB=BF firstamendmentcenter.org: news

63% oppose flag-burning = amendment, new=20 survey shows
News=20 release

By the = First=20 Amendment Center
06.10.05

NASHVILLE, Tenn. =E2=80=94 The number of Americans who = oppose a=20 constitutional amendment that would give Congress the power = to=20 punish flag-burning as protest is up sharply from 2004, = according to=20 a survey released today by the First Amendment Center.

The =E2=80=9CState of the First Amendment 2005=E2=80=9D = survey, conducted in May,=20 shows:

  • 63% of those sampled said the U.S. Constitution = =E2=80=9Cshould not be=20 amended to prohibit burning or desecrating the American = flag,=E2=80=9D up=20 from 53% in 2004 and the highest number against the proposed = amendment since the annual survey began in 1997.=20

  • 35% said the Constitution =E2=80=9Cshould be = amended=E2=80=9D =E2=80=94 down from 45% in=20 2004.=20

    =E2=80=9CThis issue involves one of the nation=E2=80=99s = most fundamental First=20 Amendment guarantees, the right of free speech; and what = many=20 consider the most-venerated symbol of our nation, honored = each year=20 on Flag Day, June 14,=E2=80=9D said Gene Policinski, = executive director of=20 the First Amendment Center.

    =E2=80=9CI have no doubt that most Americans want the = flag to be=20 protected and respected, but clearly more Americans seem to = be=20 having second thoughts about using a constitutional = amendment to=20 deal with the issue of flag desecration, and about the = impact such a=20 dramatic move would have on free speech,=E2=80=9D he = said.

    Public support for an anti-flag desecration amendment has = shifted=20 up and down each year since a 49-49% split in 1997, but the = 2005=20 survey=E2=80=99s 63-35% result is the widest division of = opinion yet=20 recorded in the center=E2=80=99s annual polling.

    Attempts have been made to punish flag desecration at = local,=20 state and national levels since the Civil War. But since the = 1970s,=20 the U.S. Supreme Court has held in several cases (see Texas=20 v. Johnson (1989) and United=20 States v. Eichman (1990)) that burning the flag as a = form of=20 political or social protest is protected speech.

    Five proposals to amend the Constitution to punish flag=20 desecration have been adopted by the House since 1995, but = all have=20 faltered in the Senate =E2=80=94 most recently, failing in = 2003 by just two=20 votes.

    On May 25, the House Judiciary Committee approved H.J.R. = 10, a=20 constitutional amendment to ban the physical desecration of = the U.S.=20 flag, setting the stage for a full vote in the House, where = it will=20 need a two-thirds majority to be approved. No date for a = vote has=20 yet been set.

    If ratified, the current proposal would become the 28th=20 Amendment. Following House and Senate approval, the proposed = amendment would be submitted to the states, where = three-fourths =E2=80=94 38=20 states =E2=80=94 are needed for approval. All 50 state = legislatures have at=20 one time or another adopted resolutions in support of an=20 anti-flag-desecration amendment.

    The First Amendment Center commissioned New England = Survey=20 Research Associates to conduct a general public survey of = attitudes=20 about the First Amendment. The survey was conducted by = telephone=20 between May 13 and May 23, 2005. The sampling error for = 1,003=20 national interviews is +/- 3.1% at the 95% level of = confidence. The=20 sample error is larger for sub-groups.

    (See the questi= ons=20 on flag desecration included in the =E2=80=9CState of = the First=20 Amendment 2005=E2=80=9D survey.)

    The First Amendment Center works to preserve and protect = First=20 Amendment freedoms through information and education. The = center=20 serves as a forum for the study and exploration of = free-expression=20 issues, including freedom of speech, of the press and of = religion,=20 the right to assemble and petition the government. The First = Amendment Center, with offices at Vanderbilt University in=20 Nashville, Tenn., and Arlington, Va., is an operating = program of the=20 Freedom Forum and is associated with the Newseum.

    # # #

    For information about the =E2=80=9CState of the First = Amendment 2005=E2=80=9D=20 survey methodology or the questions related to flag = desecration,=20 contact Professor Ken Dautrich (860/778-4195; e-mail: dautrichkj@yahoo.com) or=20 Professor David Yalof (860/508-2756; david.yalof@cox.net),=20 University of Connecticut.

    Media contact:
    Jenny Atkinson
    615/727-1325 or jatkinson@fac.org


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