VOA慢速英语2018--Is Burning the American Flag Legal?

（单词翻译）

The United States constitution guarantees a number of rights to U.S. citizens. One of the most famous is the right to free speech.

But what if people say or do horrible things?

The Supreme¹ Court struggled with this idea in 1989. The case related to a man named Gregory Lee Johnson. A few years earlier, he strongly objected to the policies of then-President Ronald Reagan. So, at a political meeting in Texas, Johnson burned the American flag.

Police arrested him.

Johnson appealed, saying that burning the flag was his way of expressing his political beliefs – exactly the kind of speech the writers of the U.S. Constitution aimed to protect.

Opponents disagreed. They pointed² out that the American flag was special, and they did not think burning it was “speech.” They warned that such an act could move people to violence.

But a majority of the Court's justices agreed with Johnson. They said even if the public strongly dislikes an idea, people still have a right to express it.

One final note: Supreme Court cases have not protected all speech. Other cases have limited people’s right to communicate ideas that are knowingly false, morally offensive³, stolen or threatening. But for now – unless the public approves Constitutional amendment⁴ – burning the American flag is legal.

Words in This Story

appeal - v. to make a formal request for a higher court or for someone in authority to review and change a decision

obscene⁵ - adj. relating to sex in an indecent or offensive way