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Posted on 07/15/2005 12:37:23 PM PDT by SmithL
MARYVILLE, Tenn. - A teenager was jailed for nine days after being accused of burning an American flag on the Fourth of July, and he faces trial next month.
While the case could test a state statute against flag burning - an act the U.S. Supreme Court says is protected under the First Amendment - prosecutors said Andrew Elisha Staley has yet to argue that he was exercising free speech rights.
"Bottom line is, the kid got drunk," said Lisa Lee, his mother. "He's never been in trouble before."
Staley, 18, is accused of taking the flag from a residence and setting it on fire. His father said the teenager "has no reason for anger against the United States" and could easily have ignited a garbage can instead of a flag.
"He was brought up in church, and he knows right from wrong," Doc Staley said.
Doc Staley said his son has been "floundering around" since dropping out of high school. "This is where the drinking came in. And he's not very good at it," the father said.
The teenager was released from jail Thursday on his own recognizance while he awaits his Aug. 2 trial on charges of desecrating a venerated object, underage drinking, littering, evading arrest, burning personal property and theft.
The Tennessee flag-burning statute makes the crime a misdemeanor, punishable by less than a year in jail and up to $2,500 fine.
If one may burn the flag in reverence, but not do so in defiance, then it is not the act that is outlawed, but the attitude.
And that, my friends, runs directly counter to the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America.
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Hang 'em High ~ Bump!
Charge him with arson. I doubt the owner of the flag wanted it burned.
While I guess he technically IS a teen still, I bet the headline would have been different if he burned a koran. They would have probably called him a "man".
Totally agree my friend. :-)
Kid drank and got drunk. How would you have him improve upon that, dear old dad?
Sounds like theft and arson to me.
...his Aug. 2 trial on charges of desecrating a venerated object, underage drinking, littering, evading arrest, burning personal property and theft.
Let him skate on the "flag burning" and give him the max on the underage drinking, littering, evading arrest, burning personal property and theft. Sounds reasonable to me!
I agree that banning flag burning is a dumb idea. I want the anti-American idiots to show themselves to the rest of us without forcing them to go underground.
ACLU: "We argue before the Supreme Court that it is a person's right to burn ANYONE's American Flag, whether they like it or not..."
Often enough, there are enough auxillary offenses to charge the offender with.
This teen is going to pay enough, without the flag burning statue.
Burning a flag - or any other article - is not protected by any provision of the U.S. Constitution. The 1st Amendment protects SPEECH. Acts are not speech, regardless of the 9 lawyers on SCOTUS.
It appears this lad stole private property and destroyed it. THAT is a crime. If I burn my own flag, it's my property and I can do with it as I want - 4th Amendment - unless I violate the higher law of environmental desecration. (sarcasm)
I believe that the proper way to dispose of a worn out flag is to cut it in a specified way. This makes it no longer a flag and then disposal of the remaining cloth is proper.
IMHO
Desecrating a venerated object? What are we placing our flag next to?
Throw the book at him for all the other charges, but the flag burning should be legal.
Maybe if his parents stopped making excuses for him and gave him the choices I had when I was floundering around. The Military or College or the Door.
Sounds like he's pretty good at it to me.
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