Act Now to Protect the Constitution

Senate Joint Resolution 12 is currently in the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. S.J. Res. 12 would desecrate the Constitution by allowing Congress to prohibit flag desecration. Andrea Stone of USA Today reports that the Senate is set to take up the amendment the week after next, and it is dangerously close to passing:

The Senate is one vote away from passing a constitutional amendment that would ban desecration of the U.S. flag, the closest that amendment supporters have been to passage.

The American Legion, which supports the amendment, and the American Civil Liberties Union, which opposes it, both say there are 66 votes to pass it.

Whether advocates can find the 67th vote to send the flag amendment to the states for ratification remains unclear. A Senate vote is set for the week of June 26.

At Hit & Run, Julian Sanchez makes a good point about the amendment:

What do people in the rest of the world think of when they see an American flag being burned? Maybe they just see opposition to American policy or military power. But maybe - —if we're lucky - they also see opposition to American values: Freedom, democracy, reality television. In the wake of a constitutional amendment, though, I can guarantee what a lot of them will think instead is: "This act of political dissent would be a crime in the United States." And in the shadow of that tought, every hateful claim the people burning those flags make about the hollowness of America's commitment to the high-sounding principles it proclaims will seem a little more plausible.

The ACLU makes it easy to contact your U.S. senators, and provides a sample letter. Please urge your senators to vote no on S.J. Res. 12.