The House went as far as approving an amendment to ban 'flag desecration,' but it has never made it through the full Senate.Ĭongress shot down the most recent proposed constitutional amendment to ban flag burning in 2006. There have been other attempts by Congress to legislate flag burning, but none have passed. The Supreme Court shot down that law as well, holding that it violated the First Amendment. In 1990, Congress passed the Flag Protection Act to outlaw knowingly burning or otherwise defacing the American flag. It is unclear whether any of Trump’s potential Supreme Court nominees would side with him on outlawing flag burning.įormer Justice Antonin Scalia sided with the majority in the 1989 ruling that flag burning is protected as “symbolic speech.” Trump has praised Scalia and said that he would seek to appoint a similar justice to the court.
The case made its way to the Supreme Court and although divided, the justices sided with Johnson, reversing the lower court ruling. Johnson faced a fine and a year in prison for violating a Texas law that made burning the flag a felony.
