The Importance Of Flag Burning In The United States

Is it ever okay to burn an American flag as means of challenging the rules? In 1984 at a republican national convention in Dallas, Texas a man named Gregory Lee Johnson burned a flag in protest of the newly appointed Reagan administration policies which led to his arrest and prosecution. By looking at the Texas v. Johnson case, one can see it was right for Johnson to challenge the rules by burning the flag in protest of the reagan administration policies which is important because it represents freedom of symbolic speech in the first amendment.

The flag is a symbol of “national unity” and burning it is destruction of that symbol. Even if the flag that is being destroyed is owned privately, the government should be able to regulate the protection due to what the flag stands for. The First Amendment recognizes symbolic speech but an exception should be made for the flag. Not only does it stand for what the United States believes, it honors those who have died defending this country. Flag burning is extremely offensive. It ignites strong feelings and in some cases violence. There must be a line drawn that prohibits the burning of the flag and does not consider it symbolic

It should be illegal for the United States flag to be burned or otherwise destroyed. The Supreme Court’s majority opinion argued that Johnson was protesting a political idea. While Johnson may have been protesting, he was using a symbol that as Chief Justice Rehnquist used in his dissent, “does not represent the views of any particular political party, and it does not represent any particular political philosophy. The flag is not simply another "idea" or "point of view" competing for recognition in the marketplace of ideas.” The flag has a uniqueness to it; it represents freedom, equal opportunity, and the goodwill for other peoples who share in the pride for our country. This unique status should outweigh the concerns of “symbolic speech” and protecting the right of protesters that desecrate the

Depicting on whether the flag burning is protected by the First Amendment the answer would be no while reading this particular article and evidence stated. Yes there will continuously be pros and cons of the situation in regards to the flag; because of various individual values. Therefore the court believes the flag is a symbol a representation of its special role to society and political reasoning, there will be some people who do not agree with but none deserve to be punished because of their own personal beliefs. There came a point where “burning the flag in private” would be an okay to do so. It is now clearly outweighed with the simple fact of having the highest courts prohibit public burning of the flag on grounds. They would rather articulate

During the Kennedy era, many Americans saw Jacqueline Kennedy only as the wife of the president who did not know much; however, not only was she a faithful wife and First Lady, but she was also a very intelligent magazine editor with a very interesting life. In the New York Times bestselling novel called The Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell challenges the way that success is typically viewed by introducing the idea of an “outlier.” Gladwell defines an outlier as “something that is situated away from or classed differently from a main or related body (Gladwell 1).” Throughout the book, he goes on to explain that success is much more than hard work; it also has to do with what he calls “The 10,000-Hour Rule” or

In America, people have used their freedom of speech to burn the country flag. For this situation the speech was allowed. I believe that this is a very disrespectful action to be doing, however it's not harming another person directly. Which means that it should be considered a citizen's freedom of speech.

The burning or desecration of the American Flag may fall under both freedoms. When one thinks of the flag, they usually think of the blood that was shed for this country. It was shed so that we could have liberties, such as, freedom of speech and expression, which fall under the First Amendment rights of the Constitution. However, when you think of a burning flag, what comes to mind? One might say it shows disrespect and hatred to a country that has given so much. In the case of Texas v. Johnson, Johnson was accused of desecrating a sacred object, but, his actions were protected by the First Amendment. Although his actions may have been offensive, he did not utter fighting words. As stated in Source D “Justice William Brennan wrote the 5-4 majority decision in holding that the defendant’s act of flag burning was protected speech under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.” By burning the flag, Johnson did not infringe upon another's natural human rights. He was simply expressing his outrage towards the government, which is within the jurisdiction of the First Amendment. Another court case, where the 5-4 majority ruled in favor of the defendant was United States v. Eichman in 1980, a year after the Johnson case. “In the case of United States v. Eichman, 496 U.S. 310 (1990), the law was struck down by the same five person majority of justices as in Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989).” [Source D] Multiple times in flag burning cases,

In 1969, the Supreme Court of the United States (U.S. Supreme Court) put forth rules allowing the burning of the flag to be protected under the First Amendment. The U. S. Supreme Court first ruled on flag discretion in 1907 in the Halter v. Nebraska case. Prior to this ruling flag discretion statues strictly prohibited the burning of the American flag , as well as, disrespecting the flag in any way shape or form. In 1968, Congress reacted to the burning of the American flag in New York during a protest against the Vietnam War by passing the Federal Flag Desecration Law. In a few court cases it has been declared that burning the American flag is only illegal if the flag has been stolen. When a flag is worn/torn the proper way of disposing of the flag is to burn it; however, when disposing of a flag by burning it there are steps that should be followed in order to do so honorably. The flag should be folded in its customary manner and then placed on a fire that is fairly large with sufficient intensity to ensure complete burning of the flag. After placing the flag on the fire all individuals should come to attention, salute the flag while reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and observing a brief moment of silence. Once the flag has been completely consumed the fire should be safely extinguished and the ashes should be buried. Congress has made seven attempts to overrule the Supreme Court decision regarding the burning of the American flag by passing a constitutional amendment that had an exception to the First Amendment and allowed the government to ban flag desecration. (Thelawdictionary.org,

Flag burning has been so talked about because, many people believe that burning the flag is an act of criminal injustice, and can be offensive to Americans. In relation to the American flag, burning can be a sign of dishonor among our fellow veterans. There has been an account of laws that were supposed to be passed, but were reject due to actions of Amendment one of the constitution. Amendment one of the constitution give people the right to freedom of speech, and prohibits the making of any law abridging it (U.S Constitution. Amendment I). It all goes back to the breakdown stated in Article V on how amendments should and shouldn’t be passed. Since two thirds majority of each house did not agree on passing a flag burning amendment, that became added to the list of failed amendments. This shows the difficulty in being able to get laws passed through the

In the text, “American Flag Stands for Tolerance”, people appear to show strong emotions and opinions about burning a flag. Most would say that it is patriotic that Mr. Johnson starts to burn a flag to express his feeling of disagreement, while others say that it is wrong and deserves punishment. We are all entitled to our own opinions, as Ronald J. Allen states in a newspaper

Burning our nations governments flag is unconstitutional. There many written documents that prohibit the burning of the American Flag. The constitution, many congresses bills trying to pass it for good, and it is law in many states constitutions. In 1989, the

Whether intentional or not burning a flag, especially a country's flag is an enormous display of disrespect to that country. However, flag burners are also protected under the First Amendment. You may argue that burning a flag is something that you do in America, at least, when the flag is old and ready to retire. Although that is correct, that is only if you do it in a certain, traditional way that honors the country. Most flag burnings however, are in disrespect for the country.

It should be considered safer to allow a few protestors to burn or disrespect the flag, than to allow the government to repress our birth rights by banning desecration of the flag. Deemed offensive by many citizens, and a form of symbolic speech by others, the constitutionality of flag desecration has been in question since the late 1800s. Desecration of the United States flag is constitutional, as a form of symbolic speech and protected under the First Amendment, even though many citizens do find it offensive.

Throughout history, Americans have fought hard to gain independence and the freedoms that come with it. However, some choose to test the limitations of those freedoms. For some time, Americans have shown their disgust of the American government by burning flags, and even cutting them up to use as clothing. Although mocking the American government and the flag is disrespectful, revoking the right to do so would be a violation of freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by the First Amendment. Those who support the no-flag burning amendment argue that the United States flag is a special case. Because it would undermine the constitution and set a dangerous precedent that will make it easier for others enact restrictive amendments to the

“The US flag is a symbol of great pride” (Hills 2016). Ethan D. Hill from the University of Georgia states this, just as all Americans should know this. The American flag is a representation for the strength and power of this country and all that it has gone through. With that being said, not everyone sees the American flag in this way. Some take it upon themselves to show firsthand disrespect to the flag in desecrating it. Desecration is the act of burning something, in this case it is burning the flag that symbolizes the freedom of this great nation. It is obvious to most that this act should be illegal, seeing as there is no reason good enough to hurt the country in this way; however, some Americans believe otherwise.