Burning American flags a dangerous idea
As many of you know, I have been devoting most of the posts recently to the pending amendment to the Constitution to prohibit the desecration of the American flag. Several readers have emailed me with the message that to amend the Constitution with the intent to prevent the burning of American flags is a violation of the First Amendment right of free speech that will lead to the loss of all sorts of rights.
So I thought it would be a good time to reiterate and clarify my point. The First Amendment guarantees Americans the right of free speech and to peaceably assemble. Period. The word, "expression" is often substituted for the word, "speech" by those who would like to broaden the protections afforded by the First Amendment to include actions as well as speech.
If you accept the First Amendment at face value, the only action specifically named is the right to assemble peaceably. My position is that burning American flags in public cannot reasonably be viewed as peaceable assembly, especially considering that most locals have laws on the books prohibiting the burning of anything in a public place.
That being said, I should also point out that I have no problem with the message of political dissent manifested by the act of burning American flags. If your views are anti-war, anti-government, anti-republican, anti-democratic or any other thing, that’s fine with me. You are entitled to have those views and make them known without fear of reprisal. In fact, if you have so much hatred for America that you feel utterly compelled to desecrate American flags, - say, you wad one up and stuff it in your shorts - as vile as that would be to my sensibilities, I would view that as a deranged but peaceful act of protest.
But to interpret the First Amendment to protect behavior that carries with it a real potential of violence, as burning the American flag does, is in my opinion, a very dangerous idea.