Burning issue: Bill would ban state financial assistance for anyone who desecrates a flag

A bill introduced in the New Hampshire House would prohibit anyone who desecrates an American flag or state flag from receiving state funds “including, but not limited to, financial assistance to needy families, food stamps, and tuition assistance.”

If the legislation is enacted, the state would be punishing residents for exercising a constitutionally protected right. The Supreme Court has twice ruled that burning a flag is a type of political expression protected by the First Amendment. “It is poignant but fundamental that the flag protects those who hold it in contempt,” wrote Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy.

“If I were king, I would not allow people to go around 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,” the late Associate Justice Antonin Scalia explained in a 2012 interview. “That was the main kind of speech that tyrants would seek to suppress.”

Co-sponsor Rep. Sean Morrison acknowledges flag burning is protected speech, but offers this tortured rationale for the legislation: “Should not we who pay for other people’s welfare not have protection regarding our freedom of speech and expression by not having to pay for people protesting the very government which provides them our money?”

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