American Notes: Crime

More than two years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that burning the American flag is a constitutionally protected form of free expression. But some Southerners aren't about to make it easy for protesters to burn another flag they hold dear: the Confederate Stars and Bars.

Last week a municipal judge in Shreveport, La., sentenced Ronald Hamilton to four days of community service for torching a Confederate flag outside the city's courthouse last July to protest a monument to Confederate soldiers. Since the city has no ordinance prohibiting flag burning, Hamilton was found guilty of violating a ban on illegal burning. Judge Lee Irvin told Hamilton that if he wanted to burn the flag, he should have sought a permit. Hamilton, who insists his right of free expression was violated, does not accept the judge's explanation. Says he: "The process to get a permit is designed to make sure that no one gets one."