Hi, I just saw the current protests that surged due to Netanyahus speech in the US. I’m just curious to know why the authorities permit them burning the American flag and vandalism of monuments.
How do freedom of speech laws work in the United States and where’s the line drawn to the action one can take when protesting.
My goal isn’t to discuss politics, so abstain from taking the thread to that direction.
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The very first amendment to the United States Constitution protects freedom of speech, and that includes conduct or symbolic speech. Burning a flag is symbolic speech, and is thus protected under the First Amendment. The United States Supreme Court affirmed that flag burning is protected speech in a case called *Texas v. Johnson* in 1989. People may run afoul of other laws while burning a flag, such as laws against lighting fires in specific places, but no one can be punished for the act of burning or otherwise destroying a flag itself, assuming the flag belongs to them. (If they stole a flag, they could be charged with theft). Vandalism is a crime everywhere. No one is allowed to vandalize monuments and people are arrested for doing things like that all the time.
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