Key cases: State v. Farrell – Iowa, 1973 (209 N.W.2d 103); State v. Kasnett – Ohio, 1973 (297 N.E.2d 537); State v. Lessin – Ohio, 1993 (620 N.E.2d 72); State v. Janssen – Wisconsin, 1997 (580 N.W.2d 260)
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| Flag burning, early 1980s (courtesy Wikimedia Commons) "The emotions of the people of this nation are so integrally linked to this symbol that its desecration in public is an invitation to violence, not because of the ideas allegedly symbolized by such act but because of the nature of the act itself." - Justice Maurice Rawlings, in Ferrell “Restriction of free expression under the mask of preventing public disorder is a greater danger to the republic which our flag symbolizes than any act of peaceful public protest in which dissent is expressed by burning the flag.” -Justice Mark McCormick (dissent), in Farrell “[The flag desecration
controversy is] complicated by the fact that the statute concerns a genuinely
sacred national symbol, acts concerning which evoke a variety of unpredictable
emotional responses because the feelings, opinions and beliefs that dictate
these responses are subjective, and exist only in the mind of the viewer.” - Justice Paul Brown, in Kasnett |
EMPIRE OF LAWS - The Legal History of the 50 American States > 5. MIDWEST LEGAL HISTORY > 5.6. The Midwest, 1965-Present: The Age of Autonomy > 5.6.1. The Midwest, 1965-Present: Autonomy in Education > 5.6.2. The Midwest, 1965-Present: Family Freedoms >