Flag Desecration Pros And Cons

Illegal to Burn the U.S. Flag

“The Congress and the states shall have the power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States.” That was the proposed constitutional amendment that was sent before the Constitution subcommittee on May 25th, 1995. The amendment passed the subcommittee and then was presented before the full Judiciary Committee. The amendment was in response to the Supreme Court rulings in 1989 and 1990 that demolished federal and state statutes prohibiting flag desecration. This was seen as an obstruction to the First Amendment which protects free speech and expression. Supporters for the amendment said that the flag deserves appropriate protection because it embodies freedom and unites our diverse country. The opponents to the amendment said that the burning of the flag is a type of free speech and should be preserved which was the …show more content…
On June 28th, 1995, the full House accepted the amendment with the vote being 312-120. 93 Democrats joined 219 Republicans in the majority vote, while 12 Republicans sided with 107 Democrats to oppose the amendment. After this point a two-thirds majority vote in the full Senate would be needed to pass the amendment. If it were to be passed by the Senate then 38 of the 50 states would have to ratify it within seven years to add it to the Constitution. On December 12th, 1995 the Senate voted 63-36 in favor of adding the amendment to the Constitution falling three short of the needed two-thirds vote need to send the amendments to the states for ratification. The voting in the Senate being: 49 Republicans and 14 Democrats voted in favor of the proposal, and 32 Democrats