Flag-Burner Fails to Shuck Charges, but Can Raise Vindictiveness

A man accused of burning a US flag in a Washington, DC, federal park must face misdemeanor charges of setting a fire in an undesignated area, harming property, and creating a public safety hazard, but he can still raise a vindictive prosecution defense, a federal judge said.

Jan Carey was properly charged under a universal rule prohibiting fires on federally owned lands managed by the National Park Service, Chief Judge James E. Boasberg of the US District Court for the District of Columbia said Tuesday. A park-specific rule governing protests at federal public spaces in the capital didn’t displace the ...