Gold-Fringed Flag Returned to Court
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Last September, County Commissioners in Ferry County, Washington removed a gold-fringed flag from the courtroom because Commissioner Jim Hall said he was shown government documents proving that fringed flags are inappropriate. Commissioner Hall, who assured everyone that he doesn't subscribe to constitutionalist views, said the flag was removed to appease "anti-government constitutionalists," according to an article in Spokane's Spokesman Review.
After several months of fruitless negotiation, presiding Superior Court Judge, Larry Kristianson, threatened legal action against Hall, saying he could order the flag replaced and have Hall jailed if he got in the way. To avoid a confrontation that could have been "politically explosive" it was agreed that the judge would buy a new fringed replacement flag with his own money if the commissioners would promise to leave it alone. "No person is authorized to come into the court and take accouterments of the court without the court's permission," he said. [SOURCE: American's Bulletin, March '96]