Bill Signed Allowing Ritual Flag Burning

A bill that allows the ritual burning of old United States flags in California was signed into law by Gov. Pete Wilson on Sunday.

Senate Bill 638, sponsored by Sen. Jack O’Connell (D-San Luis Obispo), took just three months to work its way through the legislative process. The law, which allows “the burning, in a respectful and dignified manner, of an unserviceable American flag that is no longer fit for display,” exempts flag burning from pollution-control laws.

The flag burning first became an issue following a June 18 ceremony in which Ventura’s American Legion Post torched more than 100 flags in a barbecue pit outside its downtown headquarters. Neighbors complained, the county’s Air Pollution Control District issued a warning, legionnaires protested, and a cause was born.

Although air-pollution regulators quickly decided that flag burning fit a legal loophole that allows beach barbecues, California Lt. Gov. Gray Davis, who is running for governor, decided to champion the cause in Sacramento.

“The flag shouldn’t have to piggyback on an outdoor barbecue,” he told The Times. He also noted that protesters had won the legal right to burn the flag, and he sought the same right for those who burn the flag out of reverence.

Although the Feb. 28 deadline for submitting new legislation had passed, O’Connell quickly gutted an unrelated bill and substituted new language to cover flag burning. The bill hit a snag Sept. 2 when 1st Amendment concerns caused the bill to fall one vote short in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.

Ten days later, the bill passed the state Senate 30 to 0, with little discussion.