Flag Burning is Protected Speech

on

 By Shane Vander Hart - Posted at Substack:

The First Amendment protects speech we don't like and find offensive, especially when viewed as "fighting words."
President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order that orders the U.S. Department of Justice to “vigorously prosecute” people who burn the U.S. flag and to pursue litigation to clarify the scope of the First Amendment as it relates to flag burning.

The President also ordered the Attorney General to refer flag desecration cases that violate state or local laws to the appropriate state or local authorities.

Finally, the order directs the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security and the Attorney General to deny, prohibit, terminate, or revoke visas, residence permits, or naturalization proceedings and other immigration benefits, or seek removal from the United States whenever there has been an “appropriate determination” that foreign nationals permits that under applicable law.

The executive order states, “Notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s rulings on First Amendment protections, the Court has never held that American Flag desecration conducted in a manner that is likely to incite imminent lawless action or that is an action amounting to ‘fighting words’ is constitutionally protected.”