Dbq Flag Burning

598 Words2 Pages

In the United States, some citizens and groups have used public burning of the American flag as an attempt to express their political beliefs. Some see this act as inappropriate and argue that the Constitution should be amended to protect the flag from physical desecration. Though, it’s clearly apparent that the Constitution should not be amended to prohibit the burning of the American flag, for it violates a citizen’s rights and could cause the creation of more amendments that restrict one’s freedom of speech. The creation of an amendment banning the desecration of the flag would violate peoples’ right to freely express their opinions. For instance, the First Amendment asserts that “Congress shall make no law.abridging the freedom of speech” (Source A). …show more content…

Though, as an editorial that appeared in the Los Angeles Times expresses, allowing citizens to denounce the nation’s most sacred symbols abides to the commitment the Supreme Court in 1964 made, asserting that “debate on public issues should be uninhibited” and may also include “vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on [the] government” (Source F). Flag-burning may seem despicable to some people and government officials, though, allowing it to happen would uphold the First Amendment and commit to the principle of uninhibited expression and debate, even if the act is viewed as inappropriate by some. With this considered, only a minority find flag-burning inappropriate enough to advocate for the ban, with the majority of American citizens in favor of opposing the amendment. To illustrate, in a 2006 survey conducted by USA Today, 516 participants were asked whether they thought the Constitution should be amended to prohibit burning or desecrating of the American

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