SENATE EXPLORING WAY TO BAN FLAG DESECRATION

WASHINGTON -- With Los Angeles Dodgers general manager Tommy Lasorda as a
star witness, the Senate on Wednesday launched its latest effort to amend
the Constitution to ban desecration of the American flag.

Appearing before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the issue, Lasorda
recalled a famous 1976 incident at Dodger Stadium in which Chicago Cubs
outfielder Rick Monday snatched a flag from two protesters who had doused
it with lighter fluid and were prepared to ignite it in center field.

Calling the act ``one of the most heroic acts ever to take place on the
field during a major league baseball game,'' Lasorda testified that he was
equally struck by the response of the fans, who stood up spontaneously and
sang ``God Bless America.''

Seeking to tap into that same emotion, several senators are pressing their
colleagues to adopt a flag-desecration amendment this fall and send it to
the states for ratification. The days of flag-burning as a protest may have
long since faded during a period of relative calm, but the amendment's
proponents say even the occasional defacement justifies their push. The
issue -- aimed at uniting a diverse nation behind the symbol of the Stars
and Stripes -- has soared to the top of the agenda for many conservatives.

Despite past attempts that have failed, many lawmakers believe this could
be the year Congress acts, in part because they have rephrased their
amendment to overcome past objections. Timing will be key, strategists say,
with Senate Republican leaders purposely holding off a vote until Election
Day looms so senators on the November ballot feel pressure to vote for it.

Although flag desecration is about as popular as kicking kittens and
banning the practice has deep resonance, the issue has proven to be a legal
thicket. Opponents argue that the effort, while well-intentioned, violates
the First Amendment's protection of freedom of speech, and thereby violates
the very meaning of the flag.

The Supreme Court, interpreting flag desecration as a symbolic form of
speech, invalidated past attempts by Congress and individual states to ban
the practice as a simple matter of law. These rebuffs sparked the move for
an amendment that would give Congress constitutional permission to prohibit
the practice.

Previous proposals fell short of achieving the necessary two-thirds support
in both the House and Senate for such a change to the Constitution.

This time around, some hurdles have already been cleared.

A proposed amendment that almost passed in 1995 would have given both
Congress and the states the right to pass laws specifically outlawing flag
desecration. But foes persuasively argued the result could be a confusing
jumble of statutes with differing definitions and penalties.

The current amendment -- only 17 words long -- would empower only Congress
to pass such a law.

The House endorsed the amendment, 310-114, last year and the measure
cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 24.

Should the amendment clear the Senate, approval by at least 38 states would
be needed to ratify it. That appears likely; over the years, all but one of
the 50 state Legislatures have passed resolutions backing such an amendment.