Granderson: Will judges take the principled conservative stance and protect flag burning?

Yahoo! News ^ | Sat, October 11, 2025 at 5:00 AM CDT | LZ Granderson

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Did you know the first newspaper in the future United States lasted one day?

The official reason the governor of the Massachusetts colony shut down Publick Occurrences was because publisher Benjamin Harris — a stern advocate of freedom of speech — failed to get a license. The unofficial reason was the British government did not like what Harris’ publication had to say, characterizing its content as “uncertain reports.” More than a decade would go by before the monarchy would allow another newspaper to be published, one with the king’s approval.

That was in the fall of 1690 — roughly 85 years before the start of the American Revolution and nearly a century before the ratification of the Constitution. Before there was a 1st Amendment or even a United States, there was an authoritarian government in place restricting speech, spreading fear and jailing those who dissented. Colonial life under these conditions is why “freedom of speech, or of the press” was written into the Bill of Rights before the right “to keep and bear arms.” The forefathers understood that to ward off tyranny, the people must have access to the pen as well as the sword.

This history was particularly important to conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who sat on the bench from 1986 to 2016. A constitutional originalist, he believed the document should be interpreted as it was written within the context of when it was written. He wasn’t on the bench long before demonstrating how strong those beliefs were.

In 1984, a man by the name of Gregory Lee Johnson burned a flag at a demonstration in downtown Dallas while the Republican National Convention was in town. He was protesting some policies of the Reagan administration, including U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts, and he was arrested for breaking...

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TOPICS: Government
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[DoodleBob]

Let’s hope Constitutional conservatives stand firm, and “permit” private property rights, ie allow burning your own flag.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_v._Johnson

The Supreme Court handed down a 5–4 opinion on June 21, 1989 in favor of flag burnung. Justice William Brennan authored a majority opinion which Justices Thurgood Marshall, Harry Blackmun, Antonin Scalia, and Anthony Kennedy joined.

“If it were up to me, I would put in jail every sandal-wearing, scruffy-bearded weirdo who burns the American flag,” Scalia said. “But I am not king.”

Deal.

[AppyPappy]

Would that include an LGBT flag or a Mexican flag or a BLM flag? Or are some flags more equal than others?

[jeffersondem]

“Let's hope Constitutional conservatives stand firm, and “permit” private property rights, ie allow burning your own flag.”

But first we need to review the two million page Federal Register to ensure the burning meets all federal regulations.

I have been told that incineration of cotton - even organic cotton - may release small amounts of dioxin into the air.

And as Ben & Jerry said, “No amount of dioxin is safe.”

[DoodleBob]

Notwithstanding my disdain for authority bias, I often defer to my dental hygienist versus my plumber on the state of my teeth and gums.

Similarly, I’ll entrust Scalia vs an ice cream entrepreneur on the Constitutionality of dioxin release, erm, private property rights.

[silverleaf]

Flag burning is an act
Not a verbal statement of “ free speech”
What exactly is “ free speech”? Can someone hang nooses on public or private property? Is burning a federal court or any property an expression of “free speech”? Is destroying cars or shining lasers at ICE or law enforcement an act of “ free speech”? Is inciting murder ‘ free speech’?

People have been arrested for acts even symbolic against “ protected groups”
Where was their “ free speech”?

“ hate speech” laws put a torch to “ free speech”

[jeffersondem]

“Similarly, I'll entrust Scalia vs an ice cream entrepreneur on the Constitutionality of dioxin release, erm, private property rights.”

You denounce attempts to ban the burning of American flags as federal overreach.

O.K. I can see your point.

What amazes me is that so many people fail to see federal overreach in the two million page Federal Register.

You could probably be put in federal jeopardy right now if the toe board opening in your construction scaffold was off by 3/32s of an inch.

[scrabblehack]

In my experience, nearly all flag burning is done where it would be illegal to burn ordinary trash.