A federal judge has dismissed a former gubernatorial candidate's lawsuit over a state statute that prohibits alteration of the flags of the United States or the state of Utah.
In his April suit, Ken Larsen asked U.S. District Judge Paul Cassell to declare the law unconstitutional under the First Amendment. He said he feared criminal prosecution for his practice of distributing small flags on which he has written his name in ink.
Cassell ruled last week that Larsen lacked legal standing to bring the suit, saying he failed to demonstrate a credible threat of prosecution under the statute. Although he said the constitutionality of the law is "questionable" under a 1989 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the judge also noted that no one has been charged under the statute since 1988.