imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.A. 2. This subsection does not prohibit any conduct consisting of the disposal of a flag when it has become worn or spoiled.B. As used in this section, the term “flag of the United States” means any flag of the United States or any part thereof, made of any substance, of any size, in a form that is commonly displayed.C. Nothing in this section shall be construed as indicating intent on the part of Congress to deprive any State, territory, possession, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico of jurisdiction of any offense over which it would have jurisdiction in the absence of this section.D. 1. An appeal may be taken directly to the Supreme Court of the United States form any interlocutory or final judgment, decree, or order issued by a United States district court ruling upon the constitutionality of subsection (a).D. 2. The Supreme Court shall, if it has not previously ruled on the question, accept jurisdiction over the appeal and advance on the docket and expedite to the greatest extent possible.The Supreme Court cases of the United States v. Eichman and the United States v. Haggerty dealt with this bill. Both Haggerty and Eichman protested the passing of the act because they thought that it violated their freedom of symbolic speech. Only a year after this bill was passed, the United States Supreme Court said that the Flag Protection Act of 1989 was unconstitutional and therefore, rarely enforced. Protesters have burned the American flag to express outrage at a political idea such as war, or even to challenge any objections to the burning of flags. Such behavior has outraged many Americans who feel that the flag is a symbol of the United States that should be protected from harm, and that burning flags should not be protected under the First Amendment. In a number of cases that came to the Federal district court, the courts dismissed the charges under the beli...
