Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Flag burning is decided law.

Gregory Lee Johnson burned an American flag outside of the convention center where the 1984 Republican National Convention was being held in Dallas, Texas. Johnson burned the flag to protest the policies of President Ronald Reagan. He was arrested and charged with violating a Texas statute that prevented the desecration of a venerated object, including the American flag, if such action were likely to incite anger in others. A Texas court tried and convicted Johnson. He appealed, arguing that his actions were "symbolic speech" protected by the First Amendment. The Supreme Court agreed to hear his case.

This is the real twist. The liberals split the decision regarding flag burning. The decision came down from Justice William Brennan that it was "symbolic speech" and was protected by the First Amendment.

The Justice that dissented is now retired. Justice John Paul Stevens wrote the dissenting opinion stating the flag had special status and the First Amendment did not apply.

So, while the right wing extremists are having a rip roaring good time with the standards of our government so the hubris of the GOP is intact, it wasn't a conservative judge that dissented. 

What did the Late Justice Scalia say?

Ready?


The late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (click here) stressed that flag burning is protected by the Constitution — even if he doesn't think it should be.
In 1989, the Supreme Court handed down a decision in Texas v. Johnson, which found a man named Gregory Lee Johnson had a Constitutional right to burn the American flag during the Republican National Convention.
Scalia sided with the majority in that case, which found the First Amendment protects political expression like setting the stars and stripes on fire. That doesn't mean the 78-year-old justice likes flag desecration, but it's the justices' job to interpret the Constitution, not to pass moral judgment, Scalia has said repeatedly....

As the country goes through the next four years, remember, the bills the US Congress passes are suppose to be read three times and the bills are stated to have been read three times, but, the truth is the bills aren't read even once in the Congress. 

The Republican Hubris exists in a vacuum. They have no idea what they are talking about and this is a prime example.