Trump Flags Violate SD Laws on Flag Defacement and Right of Publicity? [View all]
SDCL 22-9-1 dishes out a Class 1 misdemeanor—up to one year in jail, $2,000 fine—to “Any person who knowingly mutilates, defaces, physically defiles… any flag of the United States….”
I agree with constitutional scholars that this law is unconstitutional. But South Dakota’s Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg has neither the jurisdiction nor the intellect to discern the constitutionality of state law; the Attorney General’s job is to enforce our laws, including our flag-defacement ban.
The salient question at a rinky-dink shop in Rapid City is, does defacement include putting a face on a flag?
As photographed by my friend Joe Lowe on Thursday, the newly opened “Trump Shop” at the corner of Baken Park was flying two defaced American flags: one with Trump’s visage, one with his name, both with his slogan stamped over the proper colors. Joe Lowe tells KOTA-TV these crass commercial banners deface and disrespect the flag for which his father fought and died:
“It’s a flag issue for me. It’s just disrespectful and it’s against the United States Code,” said Lowe, pointing to an American flag with Trump’s image superimposed on top of. “My dad died for the country and my uncle died on the battlefield. They fought for the county, for the United States of America, not the United States of Trump. You shouldn’t put people’s picture on the American flag it’s just disrespectful.”
Lowe says putting an image on top of the flag is a misdemeanor offense [Nick Reagan, “Trump Shop Opens in Rapid City for Sturgis Motorcycle Rally,” KOTA-TV, updated 2019.07.26].
Read more: http://dakotafreepress.com/2019/07/28/trump-flags-violate-sd-laws-on-flag-defacement-and-right-of-publicity/
Trump flags in Rapid City; photo by Joe Lowe, 2019.07.25.
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