Flag Burning Research Paper

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Flag Burning Flag burning is a very heated but yet vague topic on whether it is okay to do or not okay. Congress believes that the flag has an intrinsic value that it chooses to put all American flags beyond the reach of physical abuse, but leaves Americans free to say what they will about the flag. The First Amendment does not stand in the way. Which is why flag burning should be accepted. The First Amendment allows free exercise of speech. ( For example, the amendment states, “Freedom of Speech and Exercise of Religion” ) Americans can do whatever they want to the flag because of this meaning there should not be any repercussions. According to a website called First Amendment: Free Speech And Flag Burning, “Flag burning constitutes as a form of symbolic speech that is protected by the First Amendment.” Flag burning became popular during the Vietnam era, prompting nearly every state in the nation to invoke little-used provisions, making it a crime to ‘desecrate’ the flag. …show more content…
Johnson. The case arose when Gregory Lee Johnson was arrested for burning an American flag at a political demonstration during the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas. Stated in a blog posted in 2016 by Scott Bomboy “Flag burning, as we’ve discussed in detail on this blog and at the National Constitution, is a legal debate that goes back decades, and in the minds of the Supreme Court, has been settled since 1990.” Since flag burning is a legal act, it must be allowed for everyone to burn a flag even if people disagree with flag burning. For example: In 2006 Congress tried to pass a joint resolution to propose an amendment to the Constitution to prohibit flag desecration, which failed by just one vote in the Senate. The First Amendment helped greatly in this case because it is about freedom of speech and flag burning is a symbolic