Lesson Plan: Burning the Flag: A First Amendment Debate
Grades 9-12
Burning the American flag has long provoked intense public and political controversy. Yet since 1989, the Supreme Court has held that flag burning as political protest is protected by the First Amendment. This Retro Report video and lesson traces the legal battle, from Joey Johnson’s arrest after a 1984 protest at the Republican National Convention to the controversy surrounding artist Dread Scott’s use of the flag and Congress’s efforts to prohibit flag desecration. The debate illustrates a broader constitutional question: how far First Amendment protections extend when political expression deeply offends others.
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