The act of burning the U.S. flag has been a heated debate topic for decades. #FlagBurning is considered offensive by many Americans who believe it incites violence and disrespects veterans. For those who defend the right to burn the flag, they state it may be offensive, but protecting free speech means to defend people's rights to say anything they want without fear of persecution. 

Looking back at the debate's history, in 1989 former Justice Antonin Scalia sided with the majority in the Supreme Court ruling that flag burning is protected under the First Amendment as "symbolic speech." The court ruling was a response to a case with Gregory "Joey" Johnson, who burned the flag to protest the policies of President Ronald Reagan. Congress passed the proposed 1989 Flag Protection Act to outlaw knowingly burning or defacing the American flag, but the Supreme Court shot down that law as well, holding that it violated the First Amendment.

Numerous politicians from both sides of the political aisle have stated flag burning should be illegal. In 2005, Hillary Clinton co-sponsored proposed legislation that would jail flag burners. During his administration, President Donald Trump stated that anyone caught burning the American flag should face the consequences, including having their citizenship revoked or face a year in jail. 

The question for debate is, should it be illegal to burn the United States flag?