Flag Desecration Bibliography

For those of you who are interested in reading more about this issue -- or for students doing research on the flag desecration controversy, here are some references you might find helpful.  The links are to Amazon.com, where you can purchase these books over the internet.  You can also order the 25-minute video documentary For Which it Stands directly from the director, via his website.

• Burning the Flag : The Great 1989-1990 American Flag Desecration Controversy by Robert Justin Goldstein (1996)
• Desecrating the American Flag : Key Documents of the Controversy from the Civil War to 1995 edited by Robert Justin Goldstein (1996)
• Texas V. Johnson : The Flag-Burning Case (Landmark Supreme Court Cases) by J. Anthony Miller (1997)
• Texas V. Johnson : Defending the Flag (Historic Supreme Court Cases) by Nancy Tompkins (1997)
• Saving 'Old Glory' : The History of the American Flag Desecration Controversy by Robert Justin Goldstein (1994)
• Democracy and the Problem of Free Speech by Cass R. Sunstein (1993)
• The Flag and the Law: a documentary history of the treatment of the American flag by the Supreme Court and Congress. Marlyn Robinson and Christopher Simoni. compil, New York: William S. Hein & Company, 1993. (This compilation includes all relevant Court decisions and Congressional hearing records.)
• Flag Burning and the Constitution.Geoffrey Stone. New York: William S. Hein & Company, 1990.
• Today's symbolic speech dilemma: flag desecration an the proposed constitutional amendment. Michael A. Henderson. South Dakota Law Review Fall 1996 41 n3 p533-573
• Like shouting 'fire'? (flag burning) (from the Indianapolis Star)(Editorial) The Los Angeles Daily Journal Feb 7, 1996 v109 n26 p6 col 1 (6 col in)
• Free speech reprieve. (flag burning) (from the San Francisco Examiner)(Editorial) The Los Angeles Daily Journal Feb 7, 1996 v109 n26 p6 col 1 (4 col in)
• Constitutional desecration: H.J. Res. 79 - the great flag folly. George E.C. Seymour V. University of West Los Angeles Law Review Annual 1996 27 p417-445
• Symbol and substance. (flag desecration) (from the Orange County Register)(Editorial) The Los Angeles Daily Journal Dec 28, 1995 v108 n249 p6 col 1 (6 col in)
• Senate speechifying. (for constitutional amendment banning flag desecration) (from the New York Times)(Editorial) The Los Angeles Daily Journal Dec 13, 1995 v108 n239 p6 col 1 (6 col in)
• Stars, stripes and asterisks. (speechmaking in Senate on proposed constitutional amendment banning flag desecration)(Editorial) The Los Angeles Daily Journal Dec 13, 1995 v108 n239 p6 col 1 (4 col in)
• State's flag law stands - barely. (Pennsylvania) Hank Grezlak. Pennsylvania Law Weekly Oct 9, 1995 v18 n41 p10 col 4 (21 col in)
• What's at stake in this amendment: freedom - or licensing? (prohibiting American flag desecration) (reprinted from The Nation) Jamin B. Raskin, Michael T. Anderson. The Los Angeles Daily Journal Sept 19, 1995 v108 n178 p6 col 3 (15 col in)
• Burning the flag. (opposition to constitutional amendment which would prohibit flag burning)(Editorial) New Jersey Law Journal August 7, 1995 v141 n6 p24 col 1 (8 col in)
• Getting tough on flag treason; if you think the only desecration is flag-burning, then you're just whistling Dixie. Jamin B. Raskin, Michael T. Anderson. Legal Times July 24, 1995 v18 n10 p28 col 1 (22 col in)
• How to protect the flag. (from the News Tribune, Tacoma, Washington)(Editorial) The Los Angeles Daily Journal July 3, 1995 v108 n125 p6 col 1 (12 col in)
• Constitutional desecration. (from The Oregonian, Portland, Oregon)(Editorial) The Los Angeles Daily Journal July 3, 1995 v108 n125 p6 col 1 (5 col in)
• Attitudes vs. action. (protecting the flag) (from the Tri-City Herald, Kennewick, Washington)(Editorial) The Los Angeles Daily Journal July 3, 1995 v108 n125 p6 col 1 (5 col in)
• Proposed amendment desecrates Constitution. (Red-Flag Issues) Clint Bolick. The Los Angeles Daily Journal June 14, 1995 v108 n113 p6 col 3 (23 col in)
• Judges should have special appreciation of history. (Red-Flag Issues) Douglas G. Carnahan. The Los Angeles Daily Journal June 14, 1995 v108 n113 p6 col 3 (22 col in)
• Not a burning issue. (burning of the American flag) (from the El Paso Texas Times) The Los Angeles Daily Journal June 7, 1995 v108 n108 p6 col 1 (6 col in)
• Torching the Constitution. Bruce Fein. Legal Times June 5, 1995 v18 n3 p29 col 1 (26 col in)
• Dancing on the outer perimeters: the Supreme Court's precarious protection of expressive conduct. Jeffrey S. Raskin. Santa Clara Law Review Spring 1993 33 n2 p395-437
• The flag-burning controversy of 1989-1990: Congress' valid role in constitutional dialogue. (Congress Issue) Charles Tiefer. Harvard Journal on Legislation Summer 1992 29 n2 p357-398
• The flag burning issue: a scenario for a constitutional paradox. Jose Alberto Sosa Llorens. Revista Juridica de la Universidad de Puerto Rico Summer 1992 61 n3 p439-463
• The flag burning controversy: a chronology. (Reflection on the Bicentennial of the Bill of Rights) Daniel H. Pollitt. North Carolina Law Review Jan 1992 70 n2 p553-614
• The constitutionality of flag burning: can neutral values protect First Amendment principles? Randolph Marshall Collins. American Criminal Law Review Spring 1991 28 n4 p887-927
• Freedom of speech and the Flag Anti-Desecration Amendment: antinomies of constitutional choice. (The Meaning of the First Amendment: 1791-1991) William W. Van Alstyne. Free Speech Yearbook Annual 1991 29 p96-105
• "Is nothing sacred?": flag desecration, the Constitution and the establishment of religion. (Symposium Celebrating the Bicentennial of the Bill of Rights, 1791-1991) James McBride. St. John's Law Review Wntr 1991 65 n1 p297-324
• Was the flag burning amendment unconstitutional? Jeff Rosen. Yale Law Journal Jan 1991 100 n4 p1073-1092
• Flag burning: an offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice? Jonathan F. Potter. Army Lawyer Nov 1990 p21-27
• This is not a flag: the aesthetics of desecration. Steven G. Gey. Wisconsin Law Review Nov-Dec 1990 1990 n6 p1549-1595
• Waving the flag: is our nation entitled to one symbol that must remain undefiled? (First Word) (column) Robert H. Bork. Omni Oct 1990 v13 n1 p10(1)
• The great 1989-1990 flag flap: an historical, political, and legal analysis. Robert Justin Goldstein. University of Miami Law Review Sept 1990 45 n1 p19-106
• Backers of flag amendment try hard but can't hide cheap political motives. Michael Kinsley. The Los Angeles Daily Journal July 2, 1990 v103 n131 p6 19 col in
• Flags and freedom: a burning issue. (flag burning amendment) (column) Fred Bruning. Maclean's July 2, 1990 v103 n27 p11(1)
• Why after 200 years are we being called on to tinker with the Bill of Rights? L. Stanley Chauvin Jr.. The Journal of the Kansas Bar Association July 1990 59 n6 p14(1)
• Texas v. Johnson. (U.S. Supreme Court flag burning case) Henry Mark Holzer. Santa Clara Law Review Summer 1990 30 n3 p649-675
• O'er the land of the free: flag burning as speech. Kent Greenawalt. UCLA Law Review June 1990 37 n5 p925-947
• Do flag burners threaten America? Law prevents serious erosion of community. Kenneth W. Starr. The Los Angeles Daily Journal May 14, 1990 v103 n96 p6 19 col in
• The framers detested flag defacers. Steven R. Ross. The Los Angeles Daily Journal May 14, 1990 v103 n96 p6 11 col in
• Flag symbolizes tolerance even for flag burners. Stanley Chauvin Jr.. The Los Angeles Daily Journal May 14, 1990 v103 n96 p6 8 col in
• Symbolic acts of political dissent need protection. (Do Flag Burners Threaten America?) Charles Fried, Kathleen Sullivan. The Los Angeles Daily Journal May 14, 1990 v103 n96 p6 19 col in
• Burning the American flag: political protest with constitutional protection. James C. Kozlowski. Parks & Recreation Dec 1989 v24 n12 p17(4)
• Flagging issue for Mr. Bush. (flag desecration issue) David Cole. The National Law Journal Nov 20, 1989 v12 n11 p13 25 col in
• The debate is rekindled; flag burning. Rorie Sherman. The National Law Journal Nov 13, 1989 v12 n10 p3 16 col in
• Let them burn the flag. (from the Washington Post) (editorial) The Los Angeles Daily Journal Oct 18, 1989 v102 n208 p6 8 col in
• House approves statutory flag burning ban. Chicago Daily Law Bulletin Oct 12, 1989 v135 n199 p1 16 col in
• Lawmakers seek to undo flag decision. (Texas v. Johnson) Rhonda McMillion. ABA Journal Oct 1989 75 p130(1)
• Delegates see no need for measure to protect flag. (California) Michael Hall. The Los Angeles Daily Journal Sept 19, 1989 v102 n187 p11 21 col in
• House approves statutory answer to flag burning. Charley Roberts. The Los Angeles Daily Journal Sept 13, 1989 v102 n183 p1 33 col in
• 'Let it burn' is right policy for flag; an ABA task force agrees. The Los Angeles Daily Journal August 10, 1989 v102 n159 p6 31 col in
• ABA leaders take no stance on flag issue; conservatives vow to battle foes of amendment plan; hot debate predicted. Michael J. Hall. The Los Angeles Daily Journal August 7, 1989 v102 n156 p1 18 col in
• ABA task force blasts proposals to protect flag; 'futile and irresponsible.' Charley Roberts. The Los Angeles Daily Journal August 4, 1989 v102 n155 p1 21 col in
• First Amendment doesn't cover flag-burning. V.H. Krulak. The Los Angeles Daily Journal July 21, 1989 v102 n145 p6 9 col in
• State senate OKs anti-flag burning resolution. (California) Hallye Jordan. The Los Angeles Daily Journal July 14, 1989 v102 n140 p3 15 col in
• Forefathers never said it would be easy. Leon Daniel. Pennsylvania Law Journal-Reporter July 10, 1989 v12 n27 p2 16 col in
• Congress tries to amend the 1st Amendment;: unprecedented act ignited by recent flag burning case; 'a lawyer's annuity bill.' Charley Roberts. The Los Angeles Daily Journal July 6, 1989 v102 n134 p1 37 col in
• Supreme Court retreat? The 'crime' of flag burning. Martin Garbus. The Nation March 20, 1989 v248 n11 p369(2)
• Congressional prohibition of contemptuous flag burning supresses constitutionally protected free speech. Frederick W. Bogdan. Washington and Lee Law Review Fall 1983 40 n4 p1541-1554

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Warren S. Apel