High court upholds cross-burning ban

Christian Century, May 3, 2003

The nation's highest court says that states can ban cross burning in many situations where it is likely to intimidate others. However, the court stopped short of saying across-the-board bans on cross burning are acceptable.

In a case that east the fight to free speech against the right to live free from intimidation, the U.S. Supreme Court said in a complicated 6-3 ruling that part of a Virginia law did not violate the First Amendment merely because it banned a specific act. The federal ruling April 7 overturned the ruling of the Virginia Supreme Court, which had said the ban was unconstitutional.

In her opinion for the majority, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor reviewed America's long history of cross burnings motivated by racial animosity at the hands of groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. She said history proves that although "a burning cross does not inevitably convey a message of intimidation, often the cross burner intends that the recipients of the message fear for their lives." In conclusion, O'Connor said, "When a cross burning is used to intimidate, few if any messages are more powerful."--ABP