COLUMBIA, S.C. - The state Court of Appeals ruled Monday that a man convicted of burning a Confederate flag flying in front of the Statehouse cannot enter the capitol grounds.

Emmett Rufus Eddy was barred from the grounds after pleading guilty to defacing a public monument.

Eddy, who has called himself the Rev. E. X. Slave, climbed a ladder while wearing a black Santa Claus suit and set the flag on fire in April 2002.

Judge James C. Williams suspended Eddy's two-year prison sentence to two years of probation on the condition Eddy stay away from Statehouse grounds while on probation.

Security officers requested the restriction because Eddy previously had handcuffed himself to a monument on the grounds, the appeals court said.

Eddy later objected to the Statehouse restriction, arguing it violated his constitutional right to petition the government.

The requirement does not prevent Eddy from protesting outside the Statehouse grounds just like any other person and is therefore not an unreasonable restriction, the court said.

Furthermore, Eddy should have objected to the deal when he pleaded guilty, the judges ruled.