Flag Desecration Laws

In the years since the vietnam war congress and the supreme court have once again been grappling with the issue.

Flag desecration laws. What s more nevada s flag desecration laws are arguably unconstitutional. In the years prior to and during world war i states began to adopt flag desecration laws the world war ii era saw many states adopting flag salute laws. Court originally upheld flag desecration laws.

101 131 2 a amended subsec a generally. The law bans any display of contempt directed against the flag but doesn t address the other issues dealt with by the state flag desecration laws. This may be why prosecutors hardly ever press charges for this crime in las vegas.

The supreme court has found laws banning desecration of the american flag to be unconstitutional. According to the statute the following acts may qualify as unlawful flag desecration. Despite this the majority of states continue to have desecration laws on the books.

Valerie goguen a teenager from massachusetts is arrested for wearing a small flag on the seat of his pants and is sentenced to six months in jail for contempt of the flag. Prior to amendment subsec. Concerns about the flag generally fall into three distinct periods.

The court ruled that it falls under the first amendment protection of free speech in the constitution. Desecration of the flag of the united states. Whoever knowingly casts contempt upon any flag of the united states by publicly mutilating defacing defiling burning or trampling upon it shall be fined not more than 1 000 or imprisoned for not more than one year or both.

Nrs 201 290 pertains only to the united states flag and the nevada state flag. These laws are often a fascinating blend of the. Flag desecration is the desecration of a flag violation of flag protocol or various acts that intentionally destroy damage or mutilate a flag in public in the case of a national flag such action is often intended to make a political point against a country or its policies some countries have laws forbidding methods of destruction such as burning in public or forbidding particular uses.