ROANOKE TIMES 

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

DATE: SUNDAY, July 1, 1990                   TAG: 9007020269
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

FLAG-BURNING RULING ASKS FOR TROUBLE

FREEDOM of speech is not absolute. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. made it clear that we are not free to shout "fire" in a crowded theater. There are many other restrictions on freedom of speech.

The burning of the American flag is not an exercise of the freedom of speech. It is a criminal action destroying the property of the federal government, state's property or property of any private person, and a violation of laws of trespassing.

The recent Supreme Court decision asks for trouble. Persons who hate Christianity will burn the cross and use obscene language in churches and other public places. Those who burn trash in public places are legally prosecuted. The American flag is considered less worth than trash. Those who burn it are above the law that is written only for ordinary law-abiding persons.

The Roe vs. Wade decision and the recent decision on flag-burning show the arrogance and tyranny of the Supreme Court. Therefore, a constitutional amendment to ban flag desecration is necessary to restrict the arbitrary power of the court. DR. ALEXANDER V. BERKIS FARMVILLE 


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