PRINTER'S NO. 2333
No. 175 Session of 1990
INTRODUCED BY ROCKS, SALVATORE, TILGHMAN, SHAFFER, HOLL,
PETERSON, SHUMAKER, CORMAN, GREENWOOD, FISHER, BELL,
JUBELIRER, MADIGAN, HOPPER, PUNT, ARMSTRONG, PECORA, RHOADES,
HESS, LEMMOND, WENGER, LOEPER, BRIGHTBILL, WILT, BAKER,
HELFRICK, GREENLEAF, MELLOW, O'PAKE, STAPLETON, BODACK,
BELAN, LYNCH, LaVALLE, STEWART, MUSTO, STOUT AND REIBMAN,
JUNE 19, 1990
INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, JUNE 19, 1990
A RESOLUTION
1 Memorializing Congress to propose a Constitutional amendment to
2 authorize prohibiting flag desecration.
3 WHEREAS, Since Revolutionary times, the American flag has
4 been an honored emblem chosen to symbolize our Nation; and
5 WHEREAS, Like our Nation itself, the American flag represents
6 the dedication and courage of all who have worked, sacrificed
7 and given their lives to establish and preserve this Nation and
8 the American way of life; and
9 WHEREAS, As an expression of the public's profound sense of
10 outrage at acts of desecration toward this National symbol, the
11 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, most other states, and the Federal
12 Government have enacted laws prohibiting and punishing flag
13 desecration; and
14 WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court decision in Texas v.
15 Johnson, 491 U.S. 1989, rendered on June 21, 1989, by a five
1 to four vote, effectively held unconstitutional those then
2 existing Federal and state laws prohibiting flag desecration;
3 and
4 WHEREAS, The Senate, on June 27, 1989, adopted Senate
5 Resolution 88, urging Congress to initiate an amendment to the
6 Constitution of the United States to authorize Federal and state
7 governments to enact laws prohibiting and setting penalties for
8 flag desecration; and
9 WHEREAS, In response to the 1989 ruling by the Supreme Court,
10 the Congress of the United States rewrote the Federal statute
11 prohibiting flag desecration in an attempt to enact a
12 prohibition that would meet the court's constitutional test; and
13 WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court in U.S. v. Eichman,
14 No. 89-1433 and a related consolidated case issued on June 11,
15 1990, declared the new Federal act prohibiting flag desecration
16 to be unconstitutional once again by a five to four vote; and
17 WHEREAS, The Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania does
18 express outrage at the most recent decision of the Supreme
19 Court; therefore be it
20 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
21 does hereby memorialize Congress to initiate an amendment to the
22 Constitution of the United States to authorized the Federal
23 Government and the states to enact laws prohibiting flag
24 desecration and setting penalties for such conduct; and be it
25 further
26 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
27 the presiding officers of each house of Congress and to each
28 member of Congress from Pennsylvania.
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