Justice Dept. to Appeal Judge’s Ruling in Seattle Flag Burning

The Justice Department said Friday it will ask the Supreme Court to overrule a federal judge’s finding that a law banning flag burning is unconstitutional.

Spokesman David Runkel said Justice Department attorneys would file a notice in Seattle federal court of the government’s plan to appeal Wednesday’s ruling by U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein.

The judge dismissed criminal charges against four people arising from a flag-burning incident, saying the law passed last year by Congress violated constitutional free-speech protections.

Congress enacted the law after the high court threw out a similar Texas statute on the same constitutional ground.

President Bush proposed a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning but allowed the bill passed by Congress to become law without signing it.

Despite the Administration’s preference for a constitutional amendment, the Justice Department has a duty to defend the law, Runkel said.

David Cole, an attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights who argued the Seattle case, predicted the high court would not overturn Rothstein’s ruling.

“I believe the Supreme Court will reaffirm that the principles for which the flag stands include the freedom to dissent and will therefore uphold Judge Rothstein’s ruling,” Cole said.

The law provides for direct appeal of rulings on its constitutionality from federal district court to the Supreme Court. The prospect of another Supreme Court ruling has renewed calls in Congress for a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning.