Vote for Les

How to Stop the Desecration of the Flag or Funerals!

The U.S. Senate recently voted down an amendment to  the U.S. Constitution which would have allowed congress to prohibit the physical desecration of the Flag.

This action demonstrates the difficulty involved with amending the Constitution. A Constitutional Amendment requires approval of 2/3 of each house of Congress and ratification by 3/4 of the states.

Congress should have considered that the founding fathers of this country put provisions in the Constitution, which can be used to address this type of problem. Congress has the power to limit appellate jurisdiction of the Federal Courts on most legal issues, and could limit the Federal Courts on this issue. A resolution limiting the Federal Courts would only require a majority vote in the House and Senate.

The very fact that a Constitutional Amendment was proposed, indicates a cynical political attempt to appear concerned about the issue. Not a real effort to correct the problem.

The flag desecration issue is caused by Federal Court decisions which equate actions, which desecrate the flag, with Constitutionally protected free speech. Actions such as yelling fire in a crowded theater are not protected as free speech, and burning the flag should not be protected either.

If jurisdiction on this issue were to be removed from the Federal  Courts,  violators could  be  prosecuted under state and local statutes.

While I personally am offended by the burning of the flag, I can understand that an argument can be made for the free speech position. I have talked to other veterans who take the position that they fought so that inconsiderate cretins could make fools out of themselves.

A more disturbing and recent development is the practice of demonstrating at the funerals of fallen soldiers. There is no moral way of justifying this type of despicable behavior. This type of action inflects trauma on people who are already grieving the loss of loved ones. If I am elected, and I find that Federal Judges are stopping local authorities from prosecuting this type of act, I will introduce legislation to remove appellate jurisdiction from the Federal Courts, for any claim that this type of action is allowed as an exercise of free speech. The local authorities in this country should be able to prosecute this type of assault.

Draft copy of my proposed legislation.