House Approves Amendment to Ban Flag Desecration
The House easily approved a constitutional amendment Thursday that would allow Congress to ban the burning or other desecration of the American flag, but the measure still appeared doomed in the Senate.
The House voted, 305 to 124, to support the amendment, designed to overturn a 1989 Supreme Court decision that struck down state laws against flag desecration.
It is the third time since 1995 that the House has mustered the two-thirds vote needed to approve the amendment, but earlier efforts sputtered in the Senate. Proponents said the measure is still two or three votes short of the 67 needed to win Senate approval.
The amendment’s supporters said the flag is such a critical and prominent symbol of the United States that burning or defacing it is a direct affront to the nation.
But opponents said amending the Constitution is a drastic step, given that there are so few incidents of flag desecration. They said the measure is a dangerous attack on 1st Amendment free speech rights.
Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter
Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond. In your inbox three times per week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
