War veteran flys flag upside down.

[QueenBeeBeeMari]

A man is flying his flag upside down to protest,over a alcohol license.However,on the 4th of July 4 police officers went and took his flag away from him and returned it to him a day later.He now continues to fly the flag upside down but claims officers trespassed on his property and stole his property as well and now there may be a law suit.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090710/ap_on_re_us/us_upside_down_flag

So,do you think this was the right thing for police to do or should the man have been allowed to fly his flag in quiet protest?

 

[Fleet]

The police violated that man's freedom of expression/speech. There is nothing wrong with a quiet, peaceful protest like such.

 

[Journia]

I'd ave burned the flag myself.

 

[QueenBeeBeeMari]

I'd ave burned the flag myself.

that is illegal.

 

[sadi]

Was he violating any laws? If not, let him be, I'd say. We allow enough crazy, lewd, disgusting and/or despicable stuff already, why would a silent protest of an unaltered image of a flag need to be removed, if everything else is being tolerated?

 

[MistressValerie1]

Flag-burning is currently legal in the US, as is flying a flag upside-down as a symbol of distress or protest. I think that his rights should have been respected.

 

[kered]

Flag-burning is currently legal in the US, as is flying a flag upside-down as a symbol of distress or protest. I think that his rights should have been respected.

That's right. While I don't agree with his reason for flying it upside down, he is protected under the same laws that allow protesters to desacrate the very symbol that ensures them the right to protest. The police may have been protecting this symbol in their own way, but they really had no legal grounds to enter the man's property and take the flag down.

 

[N/A]

This is not so clear as it might look. Legally, an upside-down flag is a sign of distress, equivalent to sending SOS or Mayday on radio. There are laws against sending false distress signals, fire alarms, or 911 calls. I'm not a lawyer, but ignorance or lack of criminal intent is not a defense against charges of crimes against public safety: you do not have to have malice aforethought when driving the wrong way on a one-way street.
(PS: imaging being British, where it is extremely difficult but not impossible to discern that the Union Jack is upside-down.)

 

[mikepd]

YEA!!!! Cuz when I'm in danger or need medical attention, I go outside and turn my flag upside down. That is a sure fire way to get help on the double.PFFFFFFF.

 

[QueenBeeBeeMari]

Flag-burning is currently legal in the US, as is flying a flag upside-down as a symbol of distress or protest. I think that his rights should have been respected.

I was told it was illegal to burn the US flag

 

[N/A]

Again, ignorance is not an excuse. People do fly flags upside-down (more likely at sea than on land) to indicate distress.
If you want to protest something using the US flag, fly it at half-staff.
If you want to flagrantly fly the flag upside-down, move to France.
If enough people disregard the meaning of the upside-down flag, then we have lost a possible emergency capability.
Did you not read in Boy Scouts of people fooling dastardly criminals holding them hostage by flying the flag in distress, pretending that if they did not raise the flag as on every day that the police would investigate?
Thank heavens for ignorant crooks.

 

[QueenBeeBeeMari]

YEA!!!! Cuz when I'm in danger or need medical attention, I go outside and turn my flag upside down. That is a sure fire way to get help on the double.PFFFFFFF.

possibly it sure gave him a lot of unwanted attention because so many citizens there were mad at him for what they saw as disrespect towards the flag

 

[N/A]

I was told it was illegal to burn the US flag

The wing-nuts want to make it illegal as a protest, but the only legal way to dispose of a worn-out flag is by burning it.
Much of this can be found in Wikipedia and similar easy-to-access sources.

 

[QueenBeeBeeMari]

The wing-nuts want to make it illegal as a protest, but the only legal way to dispose of a worn-out flag is by burning it.
Much of this can be found in Wikipedia and similar easy-to-access sources.

Oh boy just what we need another law

 

[thr33delta]

Pentode6ac7 is actually dead on with all his info, and has no one ever seen The Last Castle with Robert Redford, flying of an american flag is also military terms that the base has been overrun

 

[MistressValerie1]

According to this article about a similar case, "A Congressional Research Service American Law Division report to Congress in April described the U.S. Flag Code as 'a codification of customs and rules established for the use of certain civilians and civilian groups. No penalty or punishment is specified … for display of the flag … in a manner other than as suggested. Cases … have concluded that the Flag Code … is merely declaratory and advisory.'"

 

[N/A]

Pentode6ac7 is actually dead on with all his info, and has no one ever seen The Last Castle with Robert Redford, flying of an american flag is also military terms that the base has been overrun

In "The Honorary Consul" by Graham Greene, a local British expatriate in Argentina reports the consul to the Foreign Office for flying the Union Jack upside-down. Look at a picture and see how hard that is to do.

 

[N/A]

Perhaps we can combine two threads into one experiment (or thought-experiment or story):
Abduct two consenting 'lees in a car trunk to a lonely boat.
While one 'lee distracts the abducting 'lers, the other inverts the flag to attract the police.
Or, flies her panties on the flag pole to attract other perverts.

 

[QueenBeeBeeMari]

According to this article about a similar case, "A Congressional Research Service American Law Division report to Congress in April described the U.S. Flag Code as 'a codification of customs and rules established for the use of certain civilians and civilian groups. No penalty or punishment is specified … for display of the flag … in a manner other than as suggested. Cases … have concluded that the Flag Code … is merely declaratory and advisory.'"

So with that being said technically his rights were violated then.

 

[N/A]

Enough about legality! What about my suggested experiment?

 

[thr33delta]

I think the experiment is a good idea, and yes QueenBeeBeeMari his rights were violated thats why the ACLU actually has a case for once, however depressing that may be

 

[QueenBeeBeeMari]

Perhaps we can combine two threads into one experiment (or thought-experiment or story):
Abduct two consenting 'lees in a car trunk to a lonely boat.
While one 'lee distracts the abducting 'lers, the other inverts the flag to attract the police.
Or, flies her panties on the flag pole to attract other perverts.

I think it's hilarious but it's not the flag that will bring cops

 

[thr33delta]

yeah, on a boat the it would be the Coast Guard responding...and wasnt that the point of the experiment to see if it would work? unless its my boat i fly and Irish flag, i dont think the Puddle Jumpers could tell the difference wether it was right or not...

 

[Dr. Bill Kobb]

Pentode6ac7 is actually dead on with all his info, and has no one ever seen The Last Castle with Robert Redford, flying of an american flag is also military terms that the base has been overrun

Redford's always great. I haven't ever seen that one, but now I will be on the look out for it.

 

[thr33delta]

Its and older movie, and the Warden is Tony Soprano, i can never remeber his damn name though...