Flag Burning Research Papers

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Flag burning in the US has been a very popular way to protest actions taken by the US government. It is used by American citizens during times of great crisis. They do it to show that they care about a specific situation and they want it to stop or continue. It happened during the Vietnam War to protest the military intervention. Though many people see the issue of flag burning as a sign of disrespect towards the country, flag burning should be allowed to continue because it is the right of the people to protest the actions of the government.

The first reason why flag burning should be allowed is due to the First Amendment. The First Amendment protects the people's right to freedom of speech and freedom of expression. The only type of speech
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Under the First Amendment, symbolic speech is protected. Although not listed specifically, symbolic speech falls under implied powers given by the First Amendment. This is shown in Tinker v. Des Moines and Texas v. Johnson. In Tinker v. Des Moines, students wore black armbands to protest the Vietnam War. The Des Moines school system banned clothing that could “disrupt” learning. Leading to a lawsuit against students. The students won by a 7 - 2 vote. The vote allowed the students to wear clothing that did not disrupt the educational process and in turn held up symbolic speech. The next time symbolic speech was also upheld, was in Texas v Johnson. Texas v Johnson was the first case about the burning of American flags. Gregory Lee Johnson burns an American flag outside the Dallas City Hall. Johnson was sentenced to one year in prison and a $2,000 fine. In a 5-4 vote in the Supreme Court, flag burning was upheld as symbolic speech by saying “freedom of speech protects actions that society may find very offensive”. The US flag is a symbol, if people want to burn that symbol to protest they should have that right to do so. Symbolic speech is a right, although not listed, given to us by the First Amendment. People should be allowed to do what they want with the symbols they agree or disagree