Missouri leaders lend support to bill banning cross burning

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's Democratic governor and the Republican leader of the state Senate on Tuesday independently called for legislation to outlaw cross burning.

Gov. Bob Holden proposed the measure during a ceremony honoring slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. By coincidence, Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, filed such legislation hours later.

Both Holden and Kinder said the U.S. Supreme Court's April ruling that cross burning with the intent to intimidate isn't constitutionally protected free speech provided the impetus for the legislation. However, neither Kinder nor the governor's spokeswoman could cite any instances of cross burning in Missouri.

"We do have some scary right-wing elements in parts of rural Missouri, and we don't always know what they're up to," Kinder said.

The Rev. David Allen, pastor of St. James AME Church in Cape Girardeau and a local representative of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the law is sorely needed.

"In the 21st century we shouldn't have those kind of symbols that portray fear and, quite frankly, terrorism," Allen said.

Allen said cross burning is doubly offensive as a sign of racial prejudice and "a desecration of the most sacred symbol of Christianity."

Kinder said he became interested in the issue following the high court's 6-3 decision upholding a Virginia statute banning cross burning after discovering Missouri law was silent on the practice. Kinder views his bill as a pre-emptive strike against the "senseless, hateful action" of cross burning.

Working together

"The law has a teaching function and a deterrent function," Kinder said. "We will likely see that play out here."

Although he was previously unaware Holden was also pursuing the matter, Kinder said he expects to work with the governor for passage of the bill.

Holden said the Ku Klux Klan's historic use of the tactic to intimidate racial and religious minorities and spread fear merits legislative attention.

"It is an act that should be specified as illegal in the law," Holden said. "The Supreme Court has given Missouri the green light to do so."

Holden said Missouri would join the 14 other states that already outlaw cross burning. However, Kinder said all of those laws predate the high court's decision and, with the exception of the Virginia statute, may be unconstitutionally broad. Missouri would be the first state to enact a cross-burning ban under the court's guidelines, Kinder said.

A first offense for burning a cross with the intent to intimidate would be a class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. A subsequent offense would be a class D felony carrying a maximum four-year prison sentence.

Numerous civil rights groups, including the St. Louis city and St. Louis County chapters of the NAACP and the Anti-Defamation League, are backing the bill.

Kinder said he would discuss the legislation with Southeast Missouri civil rights activists on Monday during Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations in Cape Girardeau.

mpowers@semissourian.com

(573) 635-4608