A judge in south-central Idaho has dismissed a misdemeanor charge of desecration of the U.S. flag against a former high school teacher filed under an Idaho statute.
Fifth District Judge Mick Hodges dismissed the charge Wednesday and a formalized opinion of the decision is expected Friday.
Former Minico High School teacher Dan Luker was charged in June with one count of “public mutilation of the flag” under a law passed in 1981 by the Idaho Legislature.
Luker’s attorney, says Hodges dismissed the charge “based upon the constitutional invalidity of the flag defacement statute.” Luker says he was responding to another instructor who put a Mexican flag in a garbage can.
The U.S. Supreme Court has previously struck down laws forbidding flag desecration. (AP)