Citgo put its U.S. flag at half-staff in honor of Hugo Chavez. Is that legal?

Yes.

A set of federal statutes called the Flag Code lists the rules and customs for the treatment and display of the U.S. flag. But as The Informer has pointed out before, the Flag Code — which is really a set of guidelines — contains neither penalties nor enforcement provisions.

Under the Flag Code, the U.S. flag is to be lowered to half-staff in the following cases:

“On Memorial Day, the flag should be displayed at half-staff until noon only, then raised to the top of the staff.”

“By order of the President, the flag shall be flown at half-staff upon the death of principal figures of the United States Government and the Governor of a state, territory, or possession, as a mark of respect to their memory. In the event of the death of other officials or foreign dignitaries, the flag is to be displayed at half-staff according to Presidential instructions or orders, or in accordance with recognized customs or practices not inconsistent with law.”

“In the event of the death of a present or former official of the government of any state, territory, or possession of the United States or the death of a member of the Armed Forces from any State, territory, or possession of the United States, the Governor of that State, territory, or possession may proclaim that the National flag shall be flown at half-staff, and the same authority is provided to the Mayor of the District of Columbia with respect to present or former officials of the District of Columbia and members of the Armed Forces from the District of Columbia.”

“The flag shall be flown at half-staff thirty days from the death of the President or a former President; ten days from the day of death of the Vice-President, the Chief Justice or a retired Chief Justice of the United States or the Speaker of the House of Representatives; from the day of death until interment of an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, a Secretary of an executive or military department, a former Vice-President, or the Governor of a state, territory, or possession; and on the day of death and the following day for a Member of Congress.”

“The flag shall be flown at half-staff on Peace Officers Memorial Day, unless that day is also Armed Forces Day.”

“Again, the provisions of the Flag Code on flying the flag at half-staff are, like all the Code’s provisions, a guide only,” reads a Congressional Research Service report available on the U.S. Senate’s website.

“They do not apply, as a matter of law, to the display of the flag at half-staff by private individuals and organizations. No federal restrictions or court decisions are known that limit such an individual’s lowering his own flag or that make such display alone a form of desecration.”

Citgo is owned by Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. — Venezuela’s state-owned oil company. Chavez, Venezuela’s president, died Tuesday.

Online: www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL30243.pdf.

Salon conversation, crawfish theft

As your editor awaited his turn for a haircut Saturday, a woman seated nearby was reading aloud from a recent edition of the American Press. As she got to a story about several men who were arrested for stealing crawfish, your editor informed her that state law contains a separate statute on theft of crawfish.

“Really?” she said. “I’ve got to find that law.”

The statute, R.S. 14:67.5, defines theft of crawfish, in part, as the “taking of crawfish belonging to another or proceeds derived from the sale of such crawfish … with the intent to deprive the owner permanently of the crawfish, or proceeds derived from the sale of the crawfish.”

The penalty depends on the value of the stolen crawfish and ranges from six months in jail and a $500 fine to 10 years in prison and a $3,000 fine.

Online: www.legis.state.la.us.

The Informer answers questions from readers each Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. It is researched and written by Andrew Perzo, an American Press staff writer. To ask a question, call 494-4098, press 5 and leave voice mail, or email informer@americanpress.com

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died Tuesday at age 58. (Associated Press)

Ariana Cubillos