If the state of Kansas passed this bill, the (CFA) article would be totally for it. The CFA embraces the U.S. flag as a significant nationwide symbol. If people light fire to this vital historical piece of America as a way to protest how could they be called Americans? This bill would be one of the problems to reaching their goal: making another amendment to put on the Constitution that would look after the U.S. Flag as the nation's symbol. It shows how significant the Flag is to the American people. The CFA would need to persuade the federal leaders in order to get the bill passed. A method they can use in their favor could be politicization their representatives to upkeep their bill for people not being able to burn the American
This case then was put up to the national level and sent to the United States Supreme Court. There was great public attention because of media. Many groups involved themselves in either trying to support that Texas violated Johnson's first amendment right of freedom of expression, or tried to get a new amendment passed to the constitution stopping the burning of the United States’ flag. The final decision by the Supreme Court on June 21, 1989 was by a 5 – 4 vote, that the Texas court of criminal appeals violated Johnson's first amendment rights by prosecuting him under its law for burning a flag as a means of a peaceful political demonstration. The Supreme Court upheld this ruling, stating the flag burning was "expressive conduct" because it was an attempt to "convey a particularized message." This ruling invalidated flag protection laws in 48 states and the District of Columbia.
In 1984, the CFAA began as a criminal statute to protect classified information in government computer systems. The statute, initially, was restricted to “federal interest computers,” which included only computers of governmental and financial institutions. Throughout the years, Congress progressively expanded its reach, both in terms of who may file suit and what computers are protected. In 1994, Congress added, for the first time, a private right of action to allow “[a]ny person who suffers damage or loss by reason of a violation of [the statute]” to “maintain a civil action against the violator to obtain compensatory damages and injunctive relief or other equitable relief.” Further amendments in 1996 extended the range of the CFAA from “federal interest computers” to “protected computers” used in interstate commerce.
The flag should not necessarily be used to get a point across and it just shows disrespect to the country, and absolutely no sense of community. People who burn the flag speak of freedom of speech; however, then go and burn and destroy the very thing that represents freedom and freedom of speech is almost a conundrum. Congress has presented a bill that would accommodate forbidding flag desecration. Each time, in any case, the Supreme Court decided that this demonstration was ensured by the First Amendment the right to speak freely. The verbal confrontation over this theme proceeds, with both sides contending for "The benefit of the nation.
The burning or desecration of the American Flag may fall under both freedoms. When one thinks of the flag, they usually think of the blood that was shed for this country. It was shed so that we could have liberties, such as, freedom of speech and expression, which fall under the First Amendment rights of the Constitution. However, when you think of a burning flag, what comes to mind? One might say it shows disrespect and hatred to a country that has given so much. In the case of Texas v. Johnson, Johnson was accused of desecrating a sacred object, but, his actions were protected by the First Amendment. Although his actions may have been offensive, he did not utter fighting words. As stated in Source D “Justice William Brennan wrote the 5-4 majority decision in holding that the defendant’s act of flag burning was protected speech under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.” By burning the flag, Johnson did not infringe upon another's natural human rights. He was simply expressing his outrage towards the government, which is within the jurisdiction of the First Amendment. Another court case, where the 5-4 majority ruled in favor of the defendant was United States v. Eichman in 1980, a year after the Johnson case. “In the case of United States v. Eichman, 496 U.S. 310 (1990), the law was struck down by the same five person majority of justices as in Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989).” [Source D] Multiple times in flag burning cases,
In 1969, the Supreme Court of the United States (U.S. Supreme Court) put forth rules allowing the burning of the flag to be protected under the First Amendment. The U. S. Supreme Court first ruled on flag discretion in 1907 in the Halter v. Nebraska case. Prior to this ruling flag discretion statues strictly prohibited the burning of the American flag , as well as, disrespecting the flag in any way shape or form. In 1968, Congress reacted to the burning of the American flag in New York during a protest against the Vietnam War by passing the Federal Flag Desecration Law. In a few court cases it has been declared that burning the American flag is only illegal if the flag has been stolen. When a flag is worn/torn the proper way of disposing of the flag is to burn it; however, when disposing of a flag by burning it there are steps that should be followed in order to do so honorably. The flag should be folded in its customary manner and then placed on a fire that is fairly large with sufficient intensity to ensure complete burning of the flag. After placing the flag on the fire all individuals should come to attention, salute the flag while reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and observing a brief moment of silence. Once the flag has been completely consumed the fire should be safely extinguished and the ashes should be buried. Congress has made seven attempts to overrule the Supreme Court decision regarding the burning of the American flag by passing a constitutional amendment that had an exception to the First Amendment and allowed the government to ban flag desecration. (Thelawdictionary.org,
An archetypal character is a personality that often appears in a genre across films, in The Usual Suspects there are many archetypal characters. McManus is the trigger happy hothead of the quintet, hiding nothing from any authority figure, whether it be the cops or the underling of the most powerful hidden man in the world. His complete disregard of possible consequences when he pulls a gun on Redfoot makes him a sure candidate for the role of the Rebel. Keaton was the reluctant leader of the group the only one who knew what Verbal was capable of. Verbal often turned to him for help such as defending his idea for the taxi heist, surprisingly Keaton actually respected Verbal the most, answering his questions of Keyser Soze and choosing him to
Johnson was decided on June 21st of 1989 by the United States Supreme Court. The United States Supreme Court ruled that Gregory Lee Johnson's liberties and rights were violated, and that the burning of the U.S. flag was a constitutionally protected form of speech under the First Amendment. The court decided that flag burning was symbolic speech, and protected under the First Amendment. The opinion of the Court came down as a controversial 5–4 decision, with the majority opinion delivered by William J. Brennan, Jr. and Justices Thurgood Marshall, Harry Blackmun, Antonin Scalia, and Anthony Kennedy. Texas v. Johnson, was an important decision by the Supreme Court of the United States that revoked prohibitions on desecrating the American flag, enforced in 48 of the 50 states. Johnson’s actions, who were supported by the majority argued, that flag burning was explicitly symbolic speech, political in nature and could be expressed even if those disagreed with him, stated William Brennan. The majority also noted that freedom of speech protects actions that society may find very offensive, but society's outrage is not justification for suppressing Johnson’s actions, or symbolic speech. The dissenting opinion, which was written by Justice Stevens, and included Justices Rehnquist, White, Stevens, and O’ Connor, was that the flag's unique status as a symbol of national unity outweighed "symbolic speech" concerns, and thus, the government could lawfully prohibit flag
In the text, “American Flag Stands for Tolerance”, people appear to show strong emotions and opinions about burning a flag. Most would say that it is patriotic that Mr. Johnson starts to burn a flag to express his feeling of disagreement, while others say that it is wrong and deserves punishment. We are all entitled to our own opinions, as Ronald J. Allen states in a newspaper
people who have fought for the American flag and all that it stands for, tend
Flag Burning can be and usually is a very controversial issue. Many people are offended by the thought of destroying this country's symbol of liberty and freedom. During a political protest during the 1984 Republican Convention, Gregory Lee Johnson was arrested for burning an American flag. Years later in 1989, Johnson got the decision overturned by the United States Supreme Court. In the same year, the state of Texas passed the Flag Protection Act, which prohibited any form of desecration against the American flag. This act provoked many people to protest and burn flags anyway. Two protestors, Shawn Eichman and Mark Haggerty were charged with violating the law and arrested. Both Eichman and Haggerty appealed the
The issue of burning the American flag, as a means of expression is continuously argued today. Many
The issue of flag desecration has been and continues to be a highly controversial issue; on the one side there are those who believe that the flag is a unique symbol for our nation which should be preserved at all costs, while on the other are those who believe that flag burning is a form of free speech and that any legislation designed to prevent this form of expression is contrary to the ideals of the First Amendment to our Constitution. Shawn Eichman, as well as the majority of the United States Supreme Court, is in the latter of these groups. Many citizens believe that the freedom of speech granted to them in the First Amendment means that they can express themselves in any manner they wish as long as their right of
September 11, 2001 is the most significant event of our generation. On this day two planes struck the North and South World Trade Center towers in New York City. One plane struck the Pentagon and another crashed in Pennsylvania on its way to The White House. After the attacks, which took the lives of 2,830 people, the American population was distraught. Instantly a sense of nationalism, in specific ethnic nationalism, was increased. The percentage of Muslim population in America is only 1.71% and Muslims are physically distinct from the average American, so much of this nationalism was directed against this small percentage (Ogan 2013). The attackers on September 11 all shared the Muslim ethnicity, consequently the American government, media,
acceptable to have a "narrow, special amendment to protect a special flag from desecration." ("Consequences" 2). Even Thomas Jefferson and James Madison denounced flag burning as a crime (Brady H 2). Others feel that flag desecration disrespects those who lost their lives for our country, stating the flag symbolizes the blood that runs through our country. George Whalen, a soldier, said "the stars and stripes of our nations flag is the symbol of our nation's values... It represents loyalty patriotism and love of our country." ("citizens" 3). Those against flag desecration must remember that the men and women who fought and died for our country were fighting for justice, freedom, and independence, all of which give one the right to desecrate the flag. Yes, the flag represents these freedoms, but the
“The US flag is a symbol of great pride” (Hills 2016). Ethan D. Hill from the University of Georgia states this, just as all Americans should know this. The American flag is a representation for the strength and power of this country and all that it has gone through. With that being said, not everyone sees the American flag in this way. Some take it upon themselves to show firsthand disrespect to the flag in desecrating it. Desecration is the act of burning something, in this case it is burning the flag that symbolizes the freedom of this great nation. It is obvious to most that this act should be illegal, seeing as there is no reason good enough to hurt the country in this way; however, some Americans believe otherwise.