WASHINGTON — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is supporting new legislation to criminalize desecration of the United States flag — though she still opposes a constitutional ban on flag attacks.

Clinton, D-N.Y., has agreed to co-sponsor Utah Republican Sen. Bob Bennett's measure, which has been written in hopes of surviving any constitutional challenge following a 2003 Supreme Court ruling on the subject.

Her support of Bennett's bill follows her position in Congress last summer, when a constitutional ban on flag-burning was debated. Clinton said then she didn't support a constitutional ban, but did support federal legislation making it a crime to desecrate the flag.

In her public statements, she has compared the act of flag-burning to burning a cross, which can be considered a violation of federal civil rights law.

The Bennett-sponsored measure would outlaw intimidating any person by burning the flag, lighting someone else's flag, or desecrating the flag on federal property.