Last Updated: March 23, 1999
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RESTON, Va. — In testimony before a U.S. House subcommittee, a representative
of the American Society of Newspaper Editors opposed the "flag-protection"
amendment to the Constitution now before Congress as an unneeded infringement
on free speech.
Douglas C. Clifton, executive editor of The Miami Herald, testified
before the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution, said:
"Flag burning, loathsome as I believe it is, is nothing more than political
speech expressed in different form, and as such, enjoys the same First
Amendment protections.
"Would we amend the Constitution to prohibit verbal denunciations of
America? I can't believe we would even consider it. Then how can we amend
it to prohibit symbolic ones?"
Clifton related his experience as a Vietnam War veteran and as a resident
of Miami, with its strong connections with communist Cuba, to the flag
measure.
He said he and most of his fellow soldiers in Vietnam gave little thought
to the rights of the anti-war protesters. "Free speech to most of us was
little more than the right to gripe about the C-rations, the mail service,
the CO, the war itself," he said.
"But I know this: If I were called back into service today it would
be precisely for that reason," he said. "That's because over the
past 30 years I've developed an understanding of the First Amendment that
is exceeded only by my reverence for it."
Because of its proximity to countries where speech isn't free, the people
of Miami have a magnified view of the extremes people will go to live in
a land where it is free, he noted.
"Almost every day The Miami Herald reports the arrival of another boatload
of Cuban or Haitian refugees ... to flee oppression and find comfort in
a country that allows you to criticize your government and boast about
it."
That doesn't happen in places like Cuba, Clifton said. An official there
was recently asked what happens to you if you burn the Cuban flag as a
form of protest.
"You go to jail for it," Clifton said. "Why would we want to model our
First Amendment behavior on theirs?"
Three times in the last five years, Congress has considered Constitutional
amendments that would allow the states to punish flag burners with jail
terms or other penalties. The measures have failed each time to receive
two-thirds of the votes in the Senate to amend the Constitution. The current
legislation is H.J. Resolution 33 in the house and, S.J. Resolution 14
in the Senate.
With nearly 900 members, ASNE is the principal organization of American
newspaper editors. It is active in a number of areas, including open government,
freedom of the press, journalism credibility and ethics, newsroom management,
diversity and readership.
