VOA慢速英语2018--Is Burning the American Flag Legal?
时间：2019-01-03 作者：英语课 分类：2018年VOA慢速英语(八)月
The United States constitution guarantees a number of rights to U.S. citizens. One of the most famous is the right to free speech.
But what if people say or do horrible things?
The Supreme 1 Court struggled with this idea in 1989. The case related to a man named Gregory Lee Johnson. A few years earlier, he strongly objected to the policies of then-President Ronald Reagan. So, at a political meeting in Texas, Johnson burned the American flag.
Police arrested him.
Johnson appealed, saying that burning the flag was his way of expressing his political beliefs – exactly the kind of speech the writers of the U.S. Constitution aimed to protect.
Opponents disagreed. They pointed 2 out that the American flag was special, and they did not think burning it was “speech.” They warned that such an act could move people to violence.
But a majority of the Court's justices agreed with Johnson. They said even if the public strongly dislikes an idea, people still have a right to express it.
One final note: Supreme Court cases have not protected all speech. Other cases have limited people’s right to communicate ideas that are knowingly false, morally offensive 3, stolen or threatening. But for now – unless the public approves Constitutional amendment 4 – burning the American flag is legal.
Words in This Story
appeal - v. to make a formal request for a higher court or for someone in authority to review and change a decision
obscene 5 - adj. relating to sex in an indecent or offensive way
- It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
- He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
- He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
- She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
- His mode of doing business is offensive to me.他干事情的方式叫我很不喜欢。
- If all else fails,I will take the offensive.如果其他方法不行，我将采取攻势。
- The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
- The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。