Hi there,

For nearly 30 years, Democracy Now! has gone to where the silence is. Our reporting provides news you can’t find anywhere else and helps maintain an informed public, which is critical for a functioning democracy. Thanks to a group of generous donors, our TRIPLE MATCH has been extended through TONIGHT ONLY, which means your $15 gift is worth $45. Please donate today, so we can keep amplifying voices that refuse to be silent. Every dollar makes a difference. Thank you so much!

Democracy Now!
Amy Goodman

Non-commercial news needs your support.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

Please do your part today.

Donate

Trump Proposes Doubly Unconstitutional Punishment for Flag Burning

HeadlineNov 30, 2016

Donald Trump also sparked controversy on Tuesday when he made two unconstitutional proposals in a single tweet, writing, “Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag–if they do, there must be consequences–perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!” The Supreme Court has ruled twice that flag burning is protected under the First Amendment. The Supreme Court has also ruled it’s unconstitutional to strip people of citizenship for most crimes, including desertion. In a 1958 ruling, Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren wrote, “The deprivation of citizenship is not a weapon that the Government may use to express its displeasure at a citizen’s conduct, however reprehensible that conduct may be.”

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top