S-1043.1          _______________________________________________

                            SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 8008

                  _______________________________________________

State of Washington              52nd Legislature             1991 Regular Session

By Senators Owen, Thorsness, Johnson, Oke, Nelson, Erwin, Rasmussen, Vognild, Stratton, Matson, McCaslin, Conner, Craswell, Saling, Madsen and Bauer.

Read first time February 1, 1991.  Referred to Committee on Law & Justice.Requesting Congress to propose a Constitutional amendment to prohibit physical desecration of the United States flag.

     TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED:

     We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:

     WHEREAS, Although the right of free expression is part of the foundation of the United States Constitution, very carefully drawn limits on expression in specific instances have long been recognized as legitimate means of maintaining public safety and decency, as well as orderliness and productive value of public debate; and

     WHEREAS, Certain actions, although arguably related to one person's free expression, nevertheless raise issues concerning public decency, public peace, and the rights of expression and sacred values of others; and

     WHEREAS, There are symbols of our national soul such as the Washington Monument, the United States Capitol Building, and memorials to our greatest leaders, which are the property of every American and are therefore worthy of protection from desecration and dishonor; and

     WHEREAS, The American Flag to this day is a most honorable and worthy banner of a nation that is thankful for its strengths and committed to curing its faults, and remains the destination of millions of immigrants attracted by the universal power of the American ideal; and

     WHEREAS, The law as interpreted by the United States Supreme Court no longer accords to the Stars and Stripes that reverence, respect, and dignity befitting the banner of that most noble experiment of a nation-state; and

     WHEREAS, It is only fitting that people everywhere should lend their voices to a forceful call for a restoration of the Stars and Stripes to a proper station under law and decency;

     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that the Congress of the United States propose an amendment of the United States Constitution, for ratification by the states, specifying that Congress and the states shall have the power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States;

     BE IT RESOLVED, That certified copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted by the secretary of state to the president and the secretary of the United States Senate, to the speaker and the clerk of the United States House of Representatives, and to each member of this state's delegation to the Congress.