President Donald Trump has signed an executive order requiring the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute people who burn the American flag.
The move directly challenges a 1989 Supreme Court ruling that declared flag burning a form of protected political expression under the First Amendment.
Speaking from the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said, “You burn a flag, you get one year in jail. You don’t get 10 years, you don’t get one month. You get one year in jail, and it goes on your record.” The order argues that prosecutions remain possible if flag burning “is likely to incite imminent lawless action” or qualifies as “fighting words.”
The directive also instructs Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue litigation aimed at overturning the 1989 ruling, hoping to bring the case before today’s more conservative Supreme Court, which now includes three justices appointed by Trump in his first term.