FLAG burning being challenged by Trump

[TreyHouston]

SOOOOO..... Trump is saying that flag burning should be illegal and should come with 1 year imprisonment. Yes, it is established that it is a form of protected speech by the SCOTUS. The discussion is not about whether or not it is legal.

But what are your thoughts?


http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/29/politics/ ... index.html

[Soccerdad1995]

Yes it should be legal. And if your act provokes someone into punching you in the face, that person should not be charged.

[TexasJohnBoy]

I hate it, but it is a form of speech.

[steveincowtown]

I hate it but it should be legal. Most cities have laws against setting un contained fires though, and this is what people should be charged with.

[TreyHouston]

I hate it but it should be legal. Most cities have laws against setting un contained fires though, and this is what people should be charged with.

I like that, but you know it wouldn't stick! lol

[RogueUSMC]

Trump engages his mouth before he engages his brain...

[RogueUSMC]

Correction, he engages twitter before he engages his brain...

[TreyHouston]

Trump should REALLY STAY OFF TWITTER AND SOCIAL MEDIA. his accounts should be given to a social media rep. 100% agree

on a side note I have found that it is illegal to burn other things such as a cross.... that's not protected speech....

[Soccerdad1995]

I hate it but it should be legal. Most cities have laws against setting un contained fires though, and this is what people should be charged with.

I like that, but you know it wouldn't stick! lol

This is a problem that I have with the new generation of protestors. If you want to protest, fine. But if your protest involves the commission of unrelated crimes, like blocking traffic, destruction of property that is not yours, littering, verbal / physical assault, or starting fires in the street, then you should be punished for those crimes. To me, there is no conflict here. I have a right to stand in the public square telling the world my thoughts on whatever is going on. But that does not give me the right to break any laws.

[bblhd672]

I hate it but it should be legal. Most cities have laws against setting un contained fires though, and this is what people should be charged with.

Most cities have permitting processes if you want to have a public gathering - but you don't see those rules being enforced either.

[Soccerdad1995]

Trump should REALLY STAY OFF TWITTER AND SOCIAL MEDIA. his accounts should be given to a social media rep. 100% agree

on a side note I have found that it is illegal to burn other things such as a cross.... that's not protected speech....

I agree on Trump's Twitter use. He would be much better off delegating that communication medium to someone on his staff. He could literally just pick anyone at random, and they would do a better job with that.

I also do not think that burning crosses should be illegal (as long as you don't violate ordinances on setting fires in general). The thing is that just about any controversial statement is "hate speech" to someone out there. Having fought for our rights, I have a deep respect for each and every one of them. But I have zero respect for anyone's need to have the government protect them from being offended by what someone might do or say.

That is not to say that we should not suffer consequences for our actions. Personally, I think Mr Kaepernick (sp?) is being hateful to me and many, many, others when he takes a knee during our national anthem. I still think he has the right to do it. The government should not imprison him, or fine him, for what he is doing. But that does not mean that his employer should not suspend or fine him, or even terminate his employment. I really wish they would do exactly that.

[parabelum]

I am somewhat leaning towards it being illegal.

Burning the flag of this Nation for which so many died is not speech. Rather, it is an physical act to provoke and incite violence.

Freedom of expression is not same as freedom of speech, to me.
I support free speech fully, as disgusting as it may be.
Flag burning is an physical act, and again, it has nothing to do with speech, to me.

To burn the flag you need more then a filthy Prog mouth.

I know...most will disagree with me, and that's ok.

[Pariah3j]

I hate it but it should be legal. Most cities have laws against setting un contained fires though, and this is what people should be charged with.

Most cities have permitting processes if you want to have a public gathering - but you don't see those rules being enforced either.

I don't really care for the permitting process for peacefully assembly. I would like to see the protest permitting process curtailed and more heavily restricted as to when/where/how it can be enforced - such as only being required if the gather is walking down the street, or would require blocking the sidewalk so others are impeded and cannot pass.

Freedom is messy, with freedoms will come things we don't like. Does not mean it should be illegal. Flag burning while heinous, should be legal. Now being charged with an uncontrolled fire because you are recklessly burning the flag or there is a burn ban during a drought or something like that would be another matter.

[jsclark12]

I agree that it should be protected by the First Amendment.

While the act disgusts me and I would be very vocal to anyone that I personally know who did it, I still believe that our rights should be protected

[parabelum]

SOOOOO..... Trump is saying that flag burning should be illegal and should come with 1 year imprisonment. Yes, it is established that it is a form of protected speech by the SCOTUS. The discussion is not about whether or not it is legal.

But what are your thoughts?


http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/29/politics/ ... index.html

I wonder where he got that thought...

18 U.S. Code § 700

https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-20 ... sec700.htm