Expert: Michael Troy - 3/1/2010

Question
Can i burn a U.S flag?

Answer
Hello,

Please keep in mind that I cannot provide specific legal advice in this forum.  For that, you would need to speak to an attorney licensed to practice in your State.

However, I will say that generally speaking, the Supreme Court has held that laws that specifically target US flag burning violate the First Amendment.  The two key cases in this area are Texas v. Johnson (1989) and US v. Eichman (1990).  You can read a good summary of the background of this subject, with links to the key cases and laws here:

http://civilliberty.about.com/od/freespeech/p/flagburning.htm

Note that the laws struck down by the Court specifically focused on laws that ban US flag burning while not barring other burnings.  The Court found that was a form of viewpoint discrimination that violated the First Amendment rights of the citizenry.  One could still be charged on more general laws against starting fires in a public place, or for vandalism if the fire does any damage to sidewalk or area around it, or other laws relating to the damage or potential damage caused by the fire itself.

I hope this helps!
- Mike