NATION : U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Decide on Flag-Burning Law

The Supreme Court agreed today to decide the constitutionality of an anti-flag burning law enacted by Congress last year and to issue a ruling before its summer recess.

The court will hear the case on an emergency basis, a move that guarantees it will be decided in plenty of time to become an issue in the fall congressional elections.

The court’s action, in two cases from Washington state and the District of Columbia, was announced after the court’s usual Friday conference. In a three-paragraph order, the justices set arguments in the case for May 14, a month after the court’s regular session for oral arguments ends.

The Bush Administration had sought immediate review of the constitutionality of the Flag Protection Act of 1989, which was passed in anger over a June, 1989, Supreme Court ruling that burning the flag as a political protest is a constitutionally protected form of free speech.

According to court officials, the last time the Supreme Court set such a rare special session was in June, 1981, when the justices heard arguments testing the legality of the Iran hostage deal.

The 5-4 ruling in a case from Texas sparked a controversy that saw President Bush push for an amendment to the Constitution. Instead, Congress passed the Flag Protection Act, although backers of the amendment warned a law would not protect the flag.