Title: Burning the flag : the great 1989-1990 American flag desecration controversy /
Authors: Goldstein, Robert Justin.
Publisher: Kent State University Press,
Year: 1996
Subjects: Flags Desecration United States.
Abstract: In 1989 a political fire storm erupted after the United States Supreme Court declared that dissidents had the constitutional right under the First Amendment to burn the flag. To some, including President George Bush and many members of Congress, the flag was a sacred symbol of American freedoms. They believed its physical destruction posed a serious threat to the country and demanded a constitutional amendment to reverse the Court's decision. For those who defended the Court's ruling, flag desecration was a form of constitutionally protected free speech, and any attempt to forbid such conduct was seen as creating a dangerous precedent.
Contents: The pre-1984 origins of the American flag desecration controvesy -- The Texas trials of Gregory Lee Johnson, 1984-1988 -- The flag controversy moves to center stage, August 1988-June 1989 -- The immediate post-Johnson flag firestorm -- The 1989 congressional flag desecration debate: to overturn Johnson by law or by constitutional amendment -- The 1989 decline and fall of the constitutional amendment and the passage of the Flag Protection Act -- The Flag Protection Act and the Federal District Courts, October 1989-February 1990 -- The Supreme Court and flag burning, Round two, March-June 1990 -- Flag burning: the sequel, June 1990 -- Epilogue and afterthoughts: the flag desecration controversy in the post-Eichman era, mid-1990 to mid-1995 -- Addendum: The revided struggle over the Flag Desecration Amendement in 1995.