HomeMy WebLinkAboutOB 4 DESECRATION FLAG 08-07-89DATE: AUGUST 7, 1989 ~~~~/
TO: WILLIAM A. HUSTON, CITY MANAGER
FROM: MARY E. WYNN, CITY CLERK
SUBJECT: RESOLUTION NO. 89-121 REGARDING DESECRATION OF THE FLAG
Recommendation:
Pleasure of the City Council.
Background:
Attached is Resolution No. 89-121 which is similar to Senate Joint
Resolution No. 38 which was introduced by Senator C. Green.
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RESOLUTION NO. 89-121
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TUSTIN,
CA., REQUESTING THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES TO
PROPOSE AN AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION
SPECIFYING THAT CONGRESS AND THE STATES SHALL HAVE THE
POWER TO PROHIBIT THE PHYSICAL DESECRATION OF THE FLAG
OF THE UNITED STATES
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court, in Texas v.
Johnson,' declared unconstitutional a state statute prohibiting
the burning or other desecration of the American Flag; and
WHEREAS, for more than 200 years, the American Flag has
occupied a unique position as the symbol of our nation; and
WHEREAS, at the time of the American Revolution, the flag
served to unify the 13 colonies at home while obtaining
recognition of national sovereignty abroad; and
WHEREAS, hundreds of thousands of courageous Americans have
given their lives in defense of the principles for which the
American Flag stands; and
WHEREAS, the American Flag symbolizes the nation in peace
as well as in war; and
WHEREAS, a country ' s flag is a symbol of more than
nationhood and national unity; it signifies the ideals that
characterize the society that has chosen that emblem, as well
as the special history that has animated the growth and power
of those ideals; and
WHEREAS, the American Flag is more than a proud symbol of
the courage, the determination, and the gifts of nature that
trans-formed 13 fledgling colonies into a world power; it is
a symbol of freedom, of equal opportunity, of religious
tolerance and of good will for other peoples who share our
aspirations; and
WHEREAS, sanctioning the public desecration of the flag will
tarnish its value to an extent unjustified by the trivial burden
on free expression occasioned by requiring that an available,
alternative mode of expression--including uttering words
critical of the flag--be employed; and
WHEREAS, the ideals of liberty and equality have been an
irresistible force in motivating leaders like Patrick Henry,
Susan B. Anthony, and Abraham Lincoln, schoolteachers, like
Nathan Hale and Booker T. Washington, the Philippine Scouts who
fought at Bataan, and the soldiers who scaled the bluff at Omaha
Beach; and
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WHEREAS, if those ideals are worth fighting for--and our
history demonstrates that they are--it cannot be true that the
flag that uniquely symbolizes their power is not itself worthy
of protection from unnecessary desecration;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the
City of Tustin, California, respectfully requests that the
Congress of the United States propose an amendment to the United
States Constitution specifying that Congress and the states
shall have the power to prohibit the physical desecration of the
flag of the United States.
PASSED AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of
Tustin, California, at a regular meeting held on the 7th day of
August, 1989.
URSULA E. KENNEDY, MAYOR
MARY E. WYNN, CITY CLERK