Sure, if I had been king, I’d not permit individuals to go about burning the American flag. Nevertheless, we have now a First Modification, which says that the suitable of free speech shall not be abridged—and it’s addressed specifically to speech essential of the federal government. That was the principle form of speech that tyrants would search to suppress.
—The late Supreme Courtroom Justice Antonin Scalia in a 2012 interview, making it crystal clear why the First Modification protects burning the American flag. His feedback are uniquely related since President Donald Trump lately singed an Government Order purporting to outlaw burning the American flag — similar to a tyrant would do.
