What Does Jail Time for Flag Burning Have to Do With Sustainability?
Sustaining a government of, by, and for the people is a prerequisite to pursuing enduring climate and sustainability goals.
The inflammatory decree from President Trump demanding jail time for flag burners - and, even more so, the silence of his congressional sycophants - is yet another signal of the scope of the threat to the capacity to do anything remotely constructive in the United States on climate, resilient communities, public health or the other issues explored on Sustain What.
So I feel compelled to post what Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said to Piers Morgan on CNN in 2012 about the matter. I added the captions.
Here’s the link to the transcript of the full episode and here’s the relevant section:
Why you believe that people who burn the flag in America should be allowed to do so? And yet you personally, if you had the chance, would send them all in jail?
SCALIA: Yes, if I were king, I -- I would not allow people to go about burning the American flag. However, we have a First Amendment, which says that the right of free speech shall not be abridged. And it is addressed, in particular, to speech critical of the government. I mean, that was the main kind of speech that tyrants would seek to suppress.
Burning the flag is a form of expression. Speech doesn't just mean written words or oral words. It could be semaphore. And burning a flag is a symbol that expresses an idea -- I hate the government, the government is unjust, whatever.
MORGAN: If you're not sure, then, in the end, doesn't -- no one knows the Constitution better than you do. Doesn't it come down to your personal interpretation of the Constitution? If it isn't clear- cut, which it clearly isn't, you, in the end, have to make...
SCALIA: No, no, don't...
MORGAN: -- an -- an opinion, don't you?
SCALIA: Well, don't forget this person has to be convicted by a jury of 12 people who unanimously have to find that he was inciting to riot. So, you know, it's not all up to me.
It would be up to me to say that there was not enough evidence for the jury to find that, perhaps. But ultimately, the -- the right of jury trial is -- is the protection...
I can’t think about flag debates and the tugs of war over this symbol without recalling John Prine’s fabulous, funny and biting song “Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore.” Here’s a great live version with his explanation of the origins of the tune:
On Sunday September 7 at 7 pm Eastern, I’ll be hosting a special “Sunday Sanity” webcast with Prine’s longtime compatriot Tom Piazza, who’s written Living in the Present with John Prine, a new book that includes heaps of Prine’s reflections and writing intertwined with Piazza’s reporting as he traveled with the songwriter. Stay tuned for details.