President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday that anyone who burns an American flag should face unspecified “consequences,” such as jail or a loss of citizenship. But the Supreme Court has held that flag-burning is a form of speech protected by the First Amendment, and the Constitution forbids the government removal of citizenship for a natural-born American.
Top congressional Republicans quickly distanced themselves from Trump’s views.
Trump’s words, expressed on Twitter early Tuesday morning, put him at odds with the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who was in the majority in the 1989 decision that protected flag burning. Trump has called Scalia, who died in February, a great judge and said he would appoint someone to fill Scalia’s seat who is much like the conservative legal icon.
“Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag — if they do, there must be consequences — perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!” Trump said in a tweet.
It was not immediately clear what prompted the tweet, but just an hour before, FOX News had aired a story about college students who burned a flag.
But in 1989, Scalia signed onto an opinion written by the liberal Justice William Brennan that struck down a criminal conviction under Texas law for burning a flag during a political protest.
Asked about that vote decades later in an interview on CNN, Scalia said he would outlaw flag-burning “if I were king.” But the First Amendment exists to protect “speech critical of the government. That’s the main type of speech tyrants would seek to suppress,” he said.
The White House echoed Tuesday that the First Amendment should prevail in such matters.
“We have a responsibility as a country” to carefully protect the rights enshrined in the Constitution, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, adding that the burning of the U.S. flag offends most Americans, himself included.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said that he does not “support or believe in the idea of people burning the American flag. I support the First Amendment.” He added that Congress has no plans to take action against flag burning.
And Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky weighed in against Trump too, saying: “The Supreme Court has held that that activity is a protected First Amendment right, a form of unpleasant speech, and in this country we have a long tradition of respecting unpleasant speech. I happen to support the Supreme Court’s decision on that matter.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
So many other actions are now considered hate crimes why isn’t burning or stomping our flag? Who gets to pick what is and what isn’t a hate crime? Seems like it’s the opinion of 5 unelected people in black robes with lifetime appointments.
I agree! If flag burning is considered a form of “speech”, why would it not be considered “hate speech”? The courts have clearly concluded that hate speech is not a protected form of free speech.
I agree with Pres. Elect Donald J. Trump, the first law of the states “It is a criminal offense to burn or destroy the United States Flag”. It is a symbol just like our United States Bird, the Eagle, all which symbolizes like the Statue of Liberty, One Nation Under God and Liberty and Justice for all. If our flag was not a special symbol of America. Then why is it used to cover the caskets of our dead military men and women, law enforcement and politicians?
When our Flag is burned in riots what these degenerates are doing is slapping our country and people in the face. I consider it to be one of the top disrespectful thing they do that the Supreme Court, none of whom should ever be a permanent fixture for life, with age comes a certain amount of loss of mind and intellect. Thus, misjudgements are made against some innocent people for no reason other then that Supreme Court Judge is elderly and simply can’t recall a legal rule of law.
Well Saids Anne…, I stand-by you and Thank you for that comment…. I couldn’t have express better then you do…. AMEN to that…
And one of them said she would leave the country if Trump was elected, Ginsburg. How can she even consider still occupying the bench when she is obviously bias against the current administration even before it is put in place. She should be forced to step down and be replaced, if anything by anything a that does not resemble a rat with glasses and a black robe.
David…, Your comment made me rethinking about Justice Ginsburg… I have been puzzling about your comment and YES! Ginsburg did mention about leaving United States if Trump will be Elected… I now clearly that your comment is 100% CORRECT….!! Let Hope Trump hear your voices and replace GINSBURG and prepare for her retiring and departure party…. Thank you for sharing this NEWS…
(MY GOD….!!, I CAN’T BELIEVE TO SEE “MAKE AMERCIA GREAT AGAIN”…..!! Donald J. Trump…,Long Live The KING….!!
I cannot believe Scalia considered flag burning a form of speech. Neither can I understand (or condone) why so many people distance themselves from Trump when he he states an opinion like he did. Burning the flag of the great nation in which we live is one of the lowest acts possible. Disagree with things, but burn the flag? That is similar to burning your bible. I believe these people should be arrested and stripped of all possessions and what dignity they might have and pushed out of this country. We need a Wall of Shame. We also need to replace many of the so called high powered Republicans if they can so easily distance themselves from the President. Are they cowards that they are so afraid of conflict? Look at all they did to Trump to keep him out of office and he still got up every day and continued his campaign. Already he is doing some of the things he said he would. It was the right move. Lastly, do any of you believe it was possible to draft a Constitution with words that could address issues cropping up 200 years later? Issues that had not even been thought of yet? What do you thing those people would have said or done to a flag burner back then? Life is not a bowl of cherries – it takes preparing soil for a planting bed, then fertilizing it, and planting the seedlings, and pulling weeds, hoeing the ground, watering the cherry trees, keeping the insects off, later, keeping birds off, and finally, after careful nurturing and watching for the right time to harvest, picking them, washing them, preparing them for the bowl out of which they will eventually be consumed. It takes a lot of work to have a bowl of cherries!
Charge them with starting a fire!!!
If a welcomed outsider came to my home and decided to burn my personal items for whatever reason, “yes”, PARA AFUERA!. How ever, if it is my children, “Yes”, they can still come to my house and stay, but, will inherit, NADA!
It’s too bad that if they were to burn the flag in protest of something that they should have to wrap it around themselves while it burned, then they could respect the heat while protesting and see how committed they really are.
Good comment Rob…, I hope the person feel the heat around them…..(What left of them…??). Good suggesting….(You get A+ on your report card).
Maybe some consequences for flag burning etc,such as
permitting a vet to express his/her dismay that the flag they served under is being burned,or walked on; by beating the snot out of the individuals,and making it a viable legal defense to do so would probably slow this behavior.
Right now that is just a free speech opinion but when the SCOTUS is re-established and more conservative, this and other iffy rulings may come into play…..Damaging the flag is a notice that we are going disgrace your values and use violence to make the point……Dissention and civility is fine, going nuts and inciting incivil means is truly a offense……I can hardly wait to see if Roe v Wade is off the books as a Fed prob and is put back in the laps of the states…..
Maybe just let it be known that anybody protecting our flag will not be prosecuted for doing so. It will take care of it self.
You are required to get a permit to burn trash or brush on your property.
I say it should be required to burn in protest of anything period.
It happened in Massachusetts, right? Wot a surprise. Guess which state was the last one to lower speed limits from 65 to 55? Guess which state was the last one to raise the drinking age from 18 to 21? Guess which was the only state to vote for McGovern for Pres? Guess which state actually banned all handguns back in 1975?
That one caused a furor. Hunters had to drive around Mass to go hunting in Maine.
I agree with the notion that hate speech is well and undoubtedly evidenced by some one burning The flag of the United States of America.
As for the consequences/penalty, since it’s pretty clear that those involved in the flagburning hate America, maybe their just desserts should be deportation… Maybe to Haiti or some other third world country, perhaps for a year or two, to give them a better feel and understanding of the freedoms and yet responsibilities of being a good American citizen. In other words, if you hate America you should be encouraged, even assisted, to get the hell out.
The human will is free. Even if one is BORN on American soil, the citizenship that goes with it can be rejected and opposed treasonously. Many Americans believe Jane Fonda should have been charged with treason. Just so, the burning of the American flag by an American is a statement of rejection that should be honored by government authority. Unless that person freely repents and does jail time for the offense, they should be deported and the carpet of citizenship jerked from under them! It is said that Bill Clinton was a draft dodger who fled the country to escape the Vietnam war. If so, he should have paid dearly for his crime because it would have been a form of burning the American flag. Also, if that’s true, men died in that war; how many are in the ground or among the MIA because Bill Clinton missed being there? Hopefully, Donald Trump will be the catalyst that “makes America great again” by endearing America and its flag in the hearts of the American people again.
I may be old but not stupid. How can burning anything be considered free speech? I remember when I was a teenager and some of us were just talking about how neat it would be to have a necklace with a silver dollar on it. We were immediately stopped with a speech about not defacing government property! Is that still a law or is it okay too? No we have not stayed on top of our responsibilities in teaching our children respect, whether it be property or people. I can clue you not one of my five would be out with protesters against Mr. Trump or burning the American Flag. They don’t teach history so our kid have no concept of how our country came about or why it has the freedom they all can enjoy. I know we can never get back there but its a shame they don’t even have memories of how it was or knowledge thereof. I know Trump will do everything he can but feel he may be picking up some of the swamp and bringing them back into government again. I’m sure he will find out very quickly…..!
Lois…, Your comment does make a lot of sense…I maybe old too…, but I am not stupid as our U.S. Government are to be Blame and even all the President in the Past that want to change from the Old Law to New Law and this kept changing all the time….Heck I don’t know any update new law and I was told “I broke the Law”… New Generation are getting more and more stupidity and uneducated in Public (even now is happening in our society). The point I am making is that our U.S. Government are now Full of Shit and new Lawmaker, new Congress, new House of Rep., new leadership…..We elders are wiser then Young PUNK that wants to make new Rules while the Old Rules are DEAD….. is just keep on going like a battery…. There are old saying is …. “Out with the Old and In with the New”……
The Old Rules had a lot of Respect…., The New Rules has NO Respect at all… Now that President-elect Donald Trumpwill bring some Old Rules Back to help restore “Make America Great Again” and hope Educate newer young Kids with Respect…. (We all shall see for the next 4 years from now…., and hope will stretch out for 8 years.
Flag burning to me is a sin, and I’m waiting for the Pope to say something about these people who are living in our great country, enjoying their freedom, our food, our living quarter’s,and the right to protest, to be able to go anywhere they want. If they lived in another country it wouldn’t be possible for them to have all of these things that someone in a war torn country would give their right arm to come to America. These people should be taken out to the public square, and flogged like they use to do years ago. To me this isn’t s freedom of speech, it is a freedom to destroy something good, that our soldier’s are dying for. Take these jerks to a recruiting station and sign them up to go over and fight for their country, then they might just realize what the flag means. I imagine they are scared out of their minds to have to be a soldier. They had rather riot and burn stores and cars, and tromp and burn the flag. Have these people ever had a family member die for their country with the flag over their coffin, well I haven’t, but my husband was a veteran and when he died, the flag was over his coffin. Deport them all, or jail them like Trump says. I see the Republican’s aren’t standing by Trump after he did his tweet on the burning of the flag. If they don’t like it, get out of your well paid job, and find another one. But you won’t. You make to much money, you lazy idiots.
As far as I can tell, this is student protest, a long tradition in America. It is up to the school to trash this behavior and, perhaps, expel the student who actually, physically, burned the flag, as well as those immediately involved in it. Can you imagine how their parents would react to see a year’s tuition go down the drain?
We must be careful, as Justice Scalia was, to make sure we always act with the Constitution in mind. It is our Constitution that is the glue that holds this country together despite very different attitudes in say, the North vs. the South. No more civil war, with brother killing brother. If we are all careful to preserve our liberties, yes, including what we consider disgusting words and actions, we will survive as a country and the longest continuing democracy in the world.
Outside this country people say we are not a democracy, that our elections are a sham, and we are really controlled by shadowy people with tons of money. We need to prove them wrong, we need to stand strong as the place where all are free and all are protected under the Constitution. We need to thank Jill Stein for going to extreme lengths to protect our elections. No one expected any results to be overturned; with an almost 2.5 million lead in the popular vote why should Hillary be concerned? Like her or not, she did a good job, as the results show (unless Stein actually finds illegal voters, more likely to find state fraud, which is why the states don’t want to cooperate. There are plenty of crooks in the R party, anxious to protect their turf, which brings them money and power, at our expense.) I surely hope she finds nothing but human error, at the least state fraud, which can be guarded against in future elections. I have a duty and a right to vote, I refuse to give it up!
How is burning the flag tied to free speech? They are not nagging the flag till it goes up in flames. Burning the flag should be considered a hate crime, you have the right to burn it but you’ll have to suffer the consequences. Hate to be the bearer of bad news but this country is run by a shadow government and they are run by others and so on. You have heard of Bilderberg? How else would you explain a lot of his cabinet picks, a couple are from the Bush’s, one contributed to Hillary’s foundation, one was tied to drug trafficking cocaine, this cabinet is the gift that just keeps giving, so much for draining the swamp.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/entertainment/2016/09/01/east-high-confederate-flag/89720776/
Flying a confederate-flag is considered a hate crime but burning the American flag by low lives is not ??
and the flag burners say that they are not giving aid and comfort to the enemy, then they are liars .
I think the American Flag, no matter who buys it, should ALWAYS be held in joint ownership with the United States of America; OR possibly a person can only rent or lease the flag because the true owner is this great nation. That way, they are destroying government property and can be arrested for it’s destruction AND arson, as Mikki stated in her comment.
I agree with everyone that it is a crime to disrespect our great county by burning the flag. I think this is proof that people are becoming evil because there is no consequence for doing horrible things. I don’t remember the name of the sports figure that refused to stand during the National Anthem, but in my opinion he should of been kicked off the team. What type of example is he to our youth. Until there are consequences for bad behavior, people will continue to be disrespectful to this beautiful country of ours.
What does the flag have to do with anyone’s protest anyway?
Indeed it should and when they try this around veterans it comes fast and furious with them having the flags taken from them and sent scurrying. It is our responsibility to make sure these people are brought down any time they do this. Every college that doesn’t fly our flag, every school etc, and every time small groups of people are complaining about our flag they need to be brought down by the public.
Look folks educate yourselves to just what every single color, stripe and star means on that flag and I think most real Americans will then see this as a true slap in the face to our great country and yes America is great. When catastrophe strikes in the world who are the first to help? Then those countries love us don’t they. We need people in our country who love our country and if they don’t they can leave.
you burn my flag – I get to burn your shorts. yes, you will be wearing them.
USN (retired)
Love it!