The First Amendment is designed to protect individuals expressing unpopular opinions. In 1989, the Supreme Court’s decision on the case of Texas v. Johnson designated flag burning as a form of protected symbolic speech. The case applied only Texas’ law banning flag burning but the next year, in 1990, in the case of the United States v. Eichmann, the Supreme Court ruled that flag burning was a federally protected form of speech and that those burning a flag in peaceful protest could not be prosecuted (“First Amendment: Free Speech and Flag Burning”). This ruling is controversial because many people consider the American flag as sacred and consider flag burning as crossing the line of freedom of expression. However, the Supreme Court Justices in Texas v. Johnson asserted that the essence of freedom of speech is that it “protects actions that society may find very offensive, but society’s outrage alone is not justification for suppressing free speech” (“Facts and Case Study: Texas v. Johnson”).
This same symbolic speech applies to burning cross or any other object that a large majority of people may object to if it is desecrated. However protecting the rights of people engaging in peaceful protest is important to protecting freedom of speech. The First Amendment was not designed to protect people who held popular opinions that were widely agreed upon in society, but to protect those who voiced unpopular views that a majority of people might disagree with. Regardless of the reason for protest, taking away the right of a person to protest is a direct violation of the essence of the First Amendment. As long as the person is destroying their own property, rather a flag, a cross, or a copy of the Koran, and is not harming anyone else in the process of their protest, that person should be protected under the First Amendment to engage in symbolic speech and peaceful protest.
Work Cited
“Facts and Case Study: Texas v. Johnson.” United States Courts. Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. http://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/get-involved/constitution-activities/first-amendment/free-speech-flag-burning/facts-case-summary.aspx. Accessed 20 Oct. 2014.
“First Amendment: Free Speech and Flag Burning.” United States Courts. Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. http://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/get-involved/constitution-activities/first-amendment/free-speech-flag-burning.aspx. Accessed 20 Oct. 2014.
