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GOV - Green Bay goofyness

Sent from: 103360.2133@compuserve.com (Thomas  A. Adams)

Honest, folks, as absurd as this one sounds, I'm not making it up! Looks like
Green Bay, Wisconsin is the home of a lot MORE than beer brats, an epic myth
about a false prophet named Lombardi,  and a mediocre football team.

SOURCE:   Milwaukee Journal / Sentinal, 17 FEB. 96 (STATE EDITION), 
Section B, page 1

		    BOY, 14 COULD FACE FLAG CHARGE

Green Bay police say he wore banner with 'star spangled lie'
written on it -- Joe Williams of the State Journal Sentinal staff

A 14-year-old Green Bay boy who wore an American flag at school with 
the phrase "star spangled lie" written on the white stripes could face 
a felony flag desecration charge, police said Friday. The charge carries
a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000,
police said. The boy was being referred to Brown County juvenile 
authorities. A pupil at Vince Lombardi Middle School, the boy wore the 
flag Thursday as a cape, police said. He has been suspended from school 
for three days, police said. The boy told authorities that he got the
idea for the cape from a book he had read about the U.S. government
and UFOs, Detective Capt. Bruce Hamilton said. 

Pete Koneazny, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of 
Wisconsin, said he could not recall any flag desecration cases in 
Wisconsin involving anyone as young as the boy. "We haven't had many
flag desecration cases here as it is," Koneazny said. "I think it's
pretty much unconstitutional to prosecute these types of cases."

A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision stated that Americans have a first
Amendment right to burn flags, he said. "In this case, wearing the flag
would be similar to burning the flag," Koneazny said.

Koneazny said he hoped authorities would not charge the boy. He said
he might look into the case Monday, while in Green Bay on other business.

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