Arthur J. Kropp Quotes
Offensive or not, those who burn the flag to express their views are exercising a right that our founding generation fought a revolution to secure.
Referring to the Supreme Court decision, Texas v. Johnson (1989), in which flag burning was held to be constitutionally protected speech:
Arthur J. Kropp, Executive Director, People for the American Way, Quoted in The Washington Post, June 22, 1989
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
In this case, the Supreme Court held that burning or desecrating the American flag may not be prohibited or criminalized by the government. Flag burning, they ruled, is symbolic speech and is protected by the 1st amendment just like political pamphlets.
Trump was then President Elect who already had a large staff helping him fomake the transition. He still went off on his own with this state,ment whiich runs afoul of the Constitution which he would soon sware to defend when he took the Oath of Office. The Supreme Court had unequivocably ruled that the burning of the flag was a type of political speech and as such could not be curtailed or punished by the government. The penalty of a loss of citizenship was another constitutional thicket. In addition. in the hisoty of the country,, it had never been used as a punishment for breaking domestic law.
The reference is to "symbolic speech" such as flag burning.
Responding to George W. Bush's call for a constitutional amendment to make burning of the American flag illegal:
This statement was made After the Senate straw-voted 58-42 in favor of a constitutional amendment against flag burning, less than the two-thirds required by the Constitution.
