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Flag Protection Law Fails 2nd Test; 3 Go Free

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From United Press International

A federal judge Monday dismissed charges against three men arrested for burning American flags on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. It was the second consecutive defeat in court for a new law against desecration of the flag.

U.S. District Judge June Green dismissed the case against Dread Scott, Dave Blalock and Shawn Eichman. Each had been charged with violating the Flag Protection Act of 1989.

The defendants contended that the law is unconstitutional and that they have a right to violate it.

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Green issued her decision two weeks after a federal judge in Seattle dismissed charges against four people who were arrested for burning flags on Oct. 28, just moments after the law went into effect.

Their case is being appealed to the Supreme Court, which found in a Texas case last year that destroying a flag in political protest is a form of free speech protected by the Constitution.

Attorney William Kunstler, who represented the Washington defendants, said that both successful challenges to the law ultimately will be consolidated in the government’s appeal to the Supreme Court.

Some conservatives in Congress said that the dismissal of charges in the Seattle case proved that the Constitution should be amended to protect the flag. President Bush has said he would support such an amendment.

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