Iberville Parish City Council unanimously votes to outlaw desecration of flag

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The ordinance will protect the American flag, the Louisiana state flag, and any official flags of Iberville Parish. Council members say this law will apply to unincorporated parts of the parish.

The chairman of the council says there was no public opposition to the law. Councilman Matthew Jewell says the ordinance will go into effect in 30 days and it will be up to the sheriff's office to enforce the law.

Penalties range from a $1,000 fine to a 6-month jail sentence, or both.

There is already a flag desecration ordinance in the federal United States Code of Laws, as well as the state of Louisiana Revised Statutes. Council Chairman Matthew Jewell says the ordinance came about after he made a promise to US military veterans in attendance at an event for veterans in the parish.

The ACLU of Louisiana has sent a letter urging the parish council to oppose the ordinance.

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In 1990, the U.S Supreme Court struck down a federal flag protection law (United States v. Eichman, 496 U.S. 310). A year later the Court reaffirmed the First Amendment right to burn or otherwise destroy the flag a year later in (Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397). This country was founded on the principles of dissent, and fundamental to those principles is the right to criticize the government. Indeed, a hallmark of a free society is the right to be critical of those in power – and one way to
do that is through the symbolic power of the flag. Flag burning, “desecration,” or other acts involving the flag, like other forms of dissent, are political speech fully
protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That means this speech can’t be censored by the government, and it can’t be made a crime. In addition, under the language as reported on www.nola.com, items such as Budweiser beer cans, Harley Davidson motorcycle ads, and many credit cards which allow a flag image would be banned in Iberville Parish. Indeed, even the “Forever” postage stamp would be outlawed. Attached are several images, pulled from a simple Internet search, of items that would be prohibited in Iberville Parish.

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The people of Iberville Parish are entitled to the full range of Constitutional protections guaranteed to everyone in this country. While members of the Parish
Council may not like to see alterations of any kind to official flags, all of you have sworn to uphold the Constitution and laws of Louisiana and the United States. Those laws protect the rights of dissent and to use images of the flag, even in ways thatelected officials may disapprove.

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