Letters to the Editor: Flag burning may be offensive, but it’s still protected by the 1st Amendment

To the editor: So many people still cannot understand that expression that they find the most offensive is protected by the 1st Amendment. Racist speech is protected. Pornography is protected. So is the burning or other forms of destroying an American flag that is the protester’s own property (“Trump orders could target ‘cashless bail’ cities from D.C. to L.A.,” Aug. 25).

If the flag being purposely destroyed is no one else’s property, and if there is no physical attack on another person, all that is happening is that the sensibilities of others are being grievously offended. The mere offensiveness of a form of expression, regardless of how psychologically wounding it is and regardless of the outrage it causes, cannot by itself be a basis for government-imposed punishment. Conservatives, who claim to value the actual text of a constitutional provision along with the original intent of the authors, cannot point to anything in the Bill of Rights that gives special protection to the flag.

Edward Tabash, Los Angeles
This writer is a constitutional lawyer.

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To the editor: President Trump is at it again. He doesn’t seem to understand the great American experiment devised by our forefathers. The flag is a symbol of freedom and democracy and represents an idea. You can burn all the flags you want, but you can’t kill an idea. He just doesn’t get it.

Dave Simon, North Hollywood

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To the editor: Respect for the flag is important, so I hope Trump will encourage his MAGA army to read and abide by the United States Flag Code. There are lots of flag wavers in my area and basically none of them follow the instructions in the flag code. They either don’t have a clue of what the code prescribes, or they simply don’t care. Trump should focus on the entirety of proper flag protocol, not just make up rules that resonate with his base.

Steve Grimm, Long Beach