 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Flag Protection Act" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
.svg) | |
| Other short titles | Flag Desecration Penalties Act of 1968 |
|---|---|
| Long title | An Act to prohibit desecration of the flag and for other purposes. |
| Acronyms(colloquial) | FPA |
| Nicknames | Flag Protection Act of 1968 |
| Enacted by | the90th United States Congress |
| Effective | July 5, 1968 |
| Citations | |
| Public law | 90-381 |
| Statutes at Large | 82 Stat. 291-2 |
| Codification | |
| Titles amended | 18 U.S.C.: Crimes and Criminal Procedure |
| U.S.C. sections created | 18 U.S.C. ch. 33 §§ 700-713 |
| Legislative history | |
| |
| United States Supreme Court cases | |
| |
Reacting to protests during theVietnam War era, the United States90th Congress enactedPublic Law 90-381 (82 Stat. 291), later codified as 18 U.S.C. 700, et. seq., and better known as theFlag Protection Act of 1968. It was an expansion to nationwide applicability of a 1947 law previously restricted only to the District of Columbia (See 61 Stat. 642).
In 1989, the101st Congress amended that statute with Public Law 101-131 (103 Stat. 777). These amendments to the statute were in response to theUnited States Supreme Court's ruling that year in the case ofTexas v. Johnson (491 U.S. 397). On June 11, 1990, the Supreme Court in the case ofUnited States v. Eichman struck down the Flag Protection Act, ruling again that the government's interest in preserving the flag as a symbol does not outweigh the individual'sFirst Amendment right to disparage that symbol through expressive conduct.[1]
The text of the law reads:
- (a)(1) Whoever knowingly mutilates, defaces, physically defiles, burns, maintains on the floor or ground, or tramples upon any flag of the United States shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.
- (2) This subsection does not prohibit any conduct consisting of the disposal of a flag when it has become worn or soiled.
- (b) As used in this section, the term "flag of the United States" means any flag of the United States, or any part thereof, made of any substance, of any size, in a form that is commonly displayed.
- (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed as indicating an intent on the part of Congress to deprive any State, territory, possession, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico of jurisdiction over any offense over which it would have jurisdiction in the absence of this section.
- (d)(1) An appeal may be taken directly to the Supreme Court of the United States from any interlocutory or final judgment, decree, or order issued by a United States district court ruling upon the constitutionality of subsection (a).
- (2) The Supreme Court shall, if it has not previously ruled on the question, accept jurisdiction over the appeal and advance on the docket and expedite to the greatest extent possible.
 | This United States federal legislation article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |
