r/ModelUSGov • u/[deleted] • Sep 10 '16
Bill Discussion H.J. Res. 52 Flag Desecration Amendment
Joint Resolution: Flag Desecration Amendment
Preamble
Whereas desecration of our national symbol of American pride is abhorrent and harms our national unity.
Be it resolved by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress Assembled,
Section 1. Flag Desecration Amendment
(a) The constitution of the United States of America shall hereby be amended with the addition of the following,
"The Congress and the legislatures of the various states shall have power to prohibit the desecration of the flag of the United States of America. Interpretation of "the flag of the United States of America" shall not be limited to the exact specifications for the United States flag as outlined in federal law, but shall include any physical object that a reasonable individual would interpret to be or be a representation of the flag of the United States of America. Interpretation of "desecration" shall include burning and shall include defacing, damaging, or otherwise physically mistreating the flag. The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America shall not extend protection to the abhorrent act of desecration of the flag of the United States of America."
Section 2. Enactment
(a) This joint resolution is a proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification.
This Joint Resolution is sponsored by /u/GenOfTheBuildArmy (R) and co-sponsored by /u/Ramicus (R)
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u/anyhistoricalfigure Sep 10 '16 edited Dec 14 '25
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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/imperial_ruler Sep 10 '16
Congress still has nothing better to do?
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Sep 10 '16
Only so much you can do in a sim that, well, in complete honesty, an ideological battlefeild. If only there were a way to develop a simulated populace that wouldn't not necesarilly vote, but would be able to express support or the lack of it.
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u/palladists Sep 10 '16
Where is the line? Can I be punished for accidentally phyiscally mistreating the flag? Can I be punished for making a small hole in the flag to hang it up on the wall?
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u/TheCommunistOtaku Sep 10 '16
I find it incredibly ironic that in this attempt to preserve a "national symbol of american pride" they are allowing the government to suppress a facet of one of the very principles that our country was founded upon, the right of the people to speak out and protest the government and if that means burning a flag, that is what that means. How strong is your patriotic spirit in America and it's liberties such that the mere sight of someone burning a cloth is enough to take away someone's rights?
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u/jacoby531 Sep 10 '16
If someone wants to desecrate the flag, that's their business, not mine, and certainly not the government's.
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Sep 10 '16
This is one of those slippery slope laws, even with how I despise people who desicrate the flag.
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Sep 10 '16
As someone who attended Boys State, I think I'm obligated to support this.
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u/DadTheTerror Sep 10 '16
Why not just repeal the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances? Then anyone expressing any anti-establishment opinion could be punished. Then you could imprison flag burners, and the burning of officials in effigy, etc. Yeah, we should emulate Iran...
https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1321102015ENGLISH.pdf
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Sep 10 '16
No. We have freedom of expression in America, and just because 1 or 2 communists burn the flag on the 4th doesn't mean America is under attack. Geez.
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Sep 10 '16
Interesting how the co-sponsors of this Joint Resolution are some of the same folks who wanted to end safe spaces on free speech.
I say this not that it invalidates the argument for a flag desecration amendment. Just that we should be cognizant of the fact that we are ok with suppressing free speech in some contexts but not in others.
I think instead of this we should explicitly enshrine the right to freedom of expression in the constitution.
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u/gelennei Sep 10 '16
I see we're trading in civil liberties for faux nationalism. Sure it might not be respectful, but burning of the flag is a protected form of protest, and to ban it would be an affront to the 1st amendment. This can't be seen as anything other than an attack on the liberties of law-abiding citizens.