[Reformatted for legibility. Please take the few moments required to present materials in a readable format. KMSelf] Looks like the fundamentalists won... http://www.indystar.com/data/wire/out/1002ap_l91ia7g109.html Man arrested in burning of U.S. flag Associated Press Last updated 04:40 PM, EST, Tuesday, October 02, 2001 inscmsfonsrctdrccw NOBLESVILLE, Ind. (AP) -- An Indiana man accused of burning an American flag behind his home has been arrested, despite rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court that have said flag-burning is an exercise of free speech. David H. Stout, 49, of Noblesville was charged Monday with flag desecration and resisting law enforcement. He was being held Tuesday at the Hamilton County Jail on a $9,000 bond. Stout was arrested Sunday after police found him lying beside a burning flag in an alley behind his home. Indiana is among 48 states that still have a law against flag desecration on the books, even though the U.S. Supreme Court has twice said flag-burning is a constitutionally protected form of expression. Stout told a neighbor who tried to stop the burning that he could burn his flag if he wanted. The neighbor called police. Stout is accused of throwing a lighted firecracker at a police officer and struggling with police when they took him into custody. Hamilton County Deputy Prosecutor Wendy Petersen filed the charges against Stout. "Our particular statute has not been challenged," Petersen told The Indianapolis Star. "We still have flag desecration on the books, although we may certainly come up against that (constitutional) argument if we continue to prosecute Mr. Stout." Both charges against Stout are misdemeanors, each carrying maximum penalties of one year in prison and a $5,000 fine upon conviction. Petersen agreed that the surge of flag-waving since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks may have created a new sensitivity to flag desecration. "I can't comment on what the officers were thinking at the time, but probably a report of flag burning would be taken more seriously because of the environment," she said.