San Diego Union Tribune: Amendment curbs constitutional rights

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UNION-TRIBUNE EDITORIAL

Flag burning

Amendment curbs constitutional rights

June 24, 2005

When Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and the other architects of America's democracy drafted the Bill of Rights, their foremost aim was to safeguard freedom of expression from intrusion by government. Thus the First Amendment prohibits any law limiting freedom of speech or religion or the right of the people to petition for a redress of grievances.

Nearly two centuries after the principle of free speech was enshrined in the Constitution, it faced a crucial test: At the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas, a demonstrator torched the American flag to protest the policies of the Reagan administration and to seek redress of his grievances. This volatile expression of political thought ran afoul of a Texas law that made it a crime to desecrate the flag. The demonstrator, Gregory Lee Johnson, was promptly arrested and convicted. Five years later, when the matter reached the U.S. Supreme Court, the justices ruled 5 to 4 that the First Amendment protected the right of citizens to burn the banner in protest. Government may not interfere with this highly objectionable but peaceful form of political dissent.

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In the 16 years since the court struck down laws against flag burning, the Republic has not collapsed. Patriotism has not vanished. America's long-standing ideals have not been forsaken. Quite the contrary, there has been a marked resurgence in patriotic fervor in response to the Sept. 11 terror attacks and the war in Iraq. Flag sales are booming. Americans display the Stars and Stripes proudly in every conceivable spot, from front lawns to cemeteries, from parade routes to foreign battlefields to car bumpers.

(snip)

Notwithstanding Cunningham's claim to divine "the will of the people," his amendment is an unwarranted assault on the Bill of Rights. Restricting the time-tested freedoms enumerated by Jefferson and Madison would not strengthen but rather weaken the unique ideals that the American standard represents.


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http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050624/news_lz1ed24top.html

[rpannier]

1. I always have loved the phrase "Will of the People"

They wield it when they have the public on their side and discard it when the people don't agree.