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Trashing the Flag Weakens the Nation
| Article
# : |
16796 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
9 / 1989 |
1,733 Words |
| Author
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Morton A. Kaplan
Editor and Publisher |
On June 22, 1989, Justice William Brennan, speaking for the majority, asserted that the American flag may be burned if this is an expression of opinion:
The First Amendment literally forbids the abridgement only
of "speech," but we have long recognized that its
protection does not end at the written or spoken world. …
To conclude that the Government may permit only a limited
set of messages would be to enter territory having no
discernible or defensible boundaries. … The First Amendment
does not guarantee that other concepts virtually sacred to
our nation as a whole--such as the principle that
discrimination on the basis of race is odious and
destructive--will go unquestioned in the market place of
ideas. … We do not consecrate the flag by punishing its
desecration, for in doing so we dilute the freedom that
this cherished emblem represents.
There are a number of assumptions in his decision that clearly represent opinion, although they are integral to the majority verdict. Some are legal and others are empirical. If the First Amendment is to be extended to symbols as well as speech, does it follow that the boundaries of the appropriate use of symbols
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