
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 15, 1990                   TAG: 9005150506
SECTION: MISCELLANEOUS                    PAGE: A/3   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

HIGH COURT HEARS ARGUMENTS ON LEGISLATION TO PROTECT FLAG

Supreme Court justices, setting the stage for a decision with major political implications, heard lawyers' spirited arguments Monday over flag burning, patriotism and freedom of expression.

In arguments before the justices, the Bush administration's top courtroom lawyer, Solicitor General Kenneth Starr, argued that a new federal law to protect Old Glory does not violate free speech any more than a regulation limiting an outdoor loudspeaker's volume.

Congress can protect "those things that are special to us as a people," Starr said. "Nothing prohibits the legislature from protecting symbols against physical attack."

But civil rights attorney William Kunstler said, "Respect for the flag must be voluntary. Once people are compelled to respect a symbol, they are no longer free."

The law, the Flag Protection Act of 1989, was Congress' response to the high court's 5-4 ruling last June that struck down a Texas law banning flag burning and desecration.

The court is expected to rule by late June or early July. If the law is struck down, a proposed constitutional amendment to protect the flag likely would become a leading issue in congressional and state legislative races this fall.

Justice Harry Blackmun, seen by sponsors of the federal law as a potential swing vote, was silent throughout Monday's arguments.

Blackmun voted last year to strike down the Texas law. But in a 1974 ruling, he indicated he might go along with some laws to protect the flag's "physical integrity."

by CNB