From: Subject: firstamendmentcenter.org: news Date: Mon, 22 May 2006 19:18:07 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_00BA_01C67DD4.752F4A10" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2869 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_00BA_01C67DD4.752F4A10 Content-Type: text/html; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.firstamendmentcenter.com/news.aspx?id=15516&printer-friendly=y =EF=BB=BF firstamendmentcenter.org: news

'First Report' examines impact of = proposed=20 flag amendment
News=20 release: Report explores how Congress, courts might = implement it=20

First=20 Amendment Center
07.11.05

WASHINGTON =E2=80=94 A new =E2=80=9CFirst Report=E2=80=9D = published by the First=20 Amendment Center examines the likely impact of ratifying an=20 amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting Congress the = power to=20 punish desecration of the American flag, an issue the report = terms=20 =E2=80=9Cone of the most polarized disputes in United States = history.=E2=80=9D

The principal author of the report, First Amendment = lawyer and=20 scholar Robert Corn-Revere, writes that those favoring an = amendment=20 see it as =E2=80=9Cessential to restore constitutional = balance,=E2=80=9D while=20 =E2=80=9Copponents say such a change would amount to = unprecedented=20 desecration of the Bill of Rights.=E2=80=9D

Two U.S. Supreme Court decisions, in 1989 and 1990, = struck down=20 flag-desecration laws as violations of the First Amendment, = the=20 report notes =E2=80=94 setting off a strong national = movement to amend the=20 Constitution to allow such laws.

The report, =E2=80=9CImplementing a Flag-Desecration = Amendment to the=20 Constitution,=E2=80=9D is=20 available as a PDF. (For a free printed copy, send a = message to=20 mailto:info@fac.org Put = =E2=80=9Cflag=20 report=E2=80=9D in the subject line and give us your name = and postal=20 address. For multiple orders, there will be a charge to = cover=20 postage and printing costs only.)

Corn-Revere writes that =E2=80=9Cpermitting Congress to = ban flag=20 desecration would end the immediate dispute about whether to = change=20 the Constitution, but it would not end the ongoing debate = about the=20 limits of government authority in this area.=E2=80=9D

=E2=80=9CIn many ways, passage of a constitutional = amendment would=20 present a new beginning for the controversy,=E2=80=9D = Corn-Revere said,=20 =E2=80=9Cbecause after an amendment is ratified and = implementing legislation=20 adopted, burning a flag as a form of protest still will be = protected=20 by the First Amendment, but burning the flag will not = be,=E2=80=9D he=20 said.

Among the significant issues that may arise for Congress = and the=20 courts if the amendment is ratified, according to the = report:

  • Development of legally and constitutionally sound = definitions=20 of what is =E2=80=9Cthe flag of the United States=E2=80=9D = and what constitutes=20 =E2=80=9Cphysical desecration=E2=80=9D=20
  • Interpretation of any new law in light of existing = strong=20 constitutional protections for free speech.=20
  • An increase in the number of acts and types of flag=20 desecration, prompted as a response to the = amendment.

The report also includes sections on the history of = attempts to=20 punish flag desecration; a timeline on the efforts to = provide legal=20 protection for the flag; and a review of Supreme Court = action in=20 flag-desecration cases, including abstracts on seven major = Court=20 decisions since 1907.

Prior =E2=80=9CFirst Reports=E2=80=9D by the First = Amendment Center have examined=20 First Amendment issues involving Internet filters in public=20 libraries, faith-based initiatives, information privacy and=20 free-speech rights of public employees.

The Senate is expected to consider, after the July 4 = holiday, a=20 proposed Constitutional amendment to permit Congress to = enact laws=20 to prohibit physical desecration of the flag. The House = voted June=20 23 to approve the proposal. If approved by at least = two-thirds, or=20 67 members, in the Senate, the amendment then goes to the = states for=20 ratification. At least three-fourths, or 38, of the 50 = states are=20 needed to ratify an amendment.

Robert Corn-Revere is a partner in the Washington, D.C., = office=20 of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, specializing in First = Amendment,=20 Internet and communications law. He writes extensively on = First=20 Amendment and communications-related issues and has = testified before=20 congressional committees and the FCC. He is co-author of = Modern=20 Communications Law, published by West Group; and is editor = and=20 co-author of Rationales & Rationalizations published in = 1997. In=20 2003, he successfully petitioned Gov. George E. Pataki to = grant the=20 first posthumous pardon in New York history, to the late = comedian=20 Lenny Bruce. He argued United=20 States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc., 529 = U.S. 803=20 (2000), in which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Section = 505 of=20 the Telecommunications Act of 1996 as a violation of the = First=20 Amendment.

Media contact:
Jenny=20 Atkinson, 615/727-1325 or=20 = jatkinson@fac.org
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