Last fall, my wife, Joanna, went to Connecticut to join her niece’s Bat Mitzvah with friends. As we drove around town, we noticed that the United States flag was being flown at half-staff in front of schools, fire stations and other public buildings. We asked people in the area for whom the flag had been lowered, since we were unaware of any national figure who had died, and the local papers and television did not mention any famous or well-known person who had recently passed away. We were told that it is customary in the area to fly the flag at half-staff as a gesture of respect to a local member who had died in Iraq.
We were unaware that the rules for flying the United States flag were not uniform throughout the country. The gathering of information was enlightening.
Federal Law
The United States Code, Title 4, § 7 (m) authorizes the President to direct the Executive Order. The United States flag must be flown at half-staff on the death of present or former federal officials and on public holidays. Since the Code also provides that the flags of the various states may never be displayed higher than the federal flag, the presidential order will apply to all states and territories. The president has the authority to order flags to be flown at half-staff or prominent figures of the world or even whenever it is appropriate. In the past, edicts have been issued to display the call of the half evil to identify in Oklahoma City bombing, memory. the 9/11 attacks, the death of Pope John Paul II, the Columbia radio disaster in 2003, the victims of Hurricane Katrina, the Indian earthquake and tsunami, the deaths of Coretta King Scott and Rosa Parks, and Virginia Tech. slaughter
It is clear that the President does not issue such a message as to protest against the policy of the administration; other smaller jurisdictions have no doubt!
State and local customs and laws
The federal statute allows the superintendent of each state to fly the flag of the United States half-way. -staff, “in the event of the death of a present or former official of the government of any State, territory, or possession of the United States…”
That sounds all right, but it doesn’t explain the half-staffed flags in Connecticut. In which city, state and some municipalities ordered the flag to be lowered to recognize the death of a local servant. In addition, various states and some municipalities have used the flag to indicate the state or state of the state.
Venice, for example, strives to have both; The statute provides that flags may be flown at half-staff during special periods of mourning designated by the President of the United States or the President of New York, and for the memory of a national person or of a standing State or local servant, official or public servant. New York takes the position that every minister or woman is, de facto, a public official of the state. As we learned from our journey to Connecticut, the Governor of that state and certain places commonly announce the death of a member of a slave.
It is clear, at least, that the American flag can be flown at half-staff by law and that each state can fly it at half-staff at the behest of the President or the Governor, based on limited and very precise criteria. In practice, minor officials took similar action. There are examples where the Major City is “said”. In 1970, for example, John Lindsey, then the mayor of New York, directed the flag in the city. to stop the protest and in memory of the students at Kent State University who were killed by members of the Ohio National Guard. In at least one reported case, the owner of a pizza shop in suburban Albany, New York, put down his personal American flag to protest the war in Iraq, although this may not be well under the Flag Code. This prompted the City Manager of Long Beach, a community on Long Island, New York, to make a similar declaration
Last month, residents of the city of Gretna, Nebraska, waited for an official announcement to lower the flag in honor of Army Cpl. Matthew Alexander When a Nebraska soldier is killed in battle, Gov. Dave Heineman leaves military officials in the country to decide whether to lower the flags to half-staff.
According to the Omaha World Herald, many citizens and business owners flew their flags to half-staff as soon as word got out that Alexander had been killed in Iraq on May 6. Gretna Mayor Tim Gilligan ordered the flags lowered by city officials. Gretna is a tight-knit community, Gilligan said, and many felt their flags were the only way to support Alexander and his family.
However, not everyone agrees that the flags should be lowered in mourning. Some say lowering the flag too often serves as a subtle anti-war gesture, cheap taxes and goes against federal highways. Others say that such tributes are expedient, and that fallen soldiers are less worthy than politicians. Since the beginning of the Iraq war, according to the New York, presidents have ordered the flags of more than half of the states to be lowered, when a local soldier dies in battle.
This created conditions, such as in Mount Iron, Mich., in which the American in the Commander-in-Chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in The media outlet ran because Gov. Jennifer Granholm ordered a state-wide shutdown for 24 hours to honor a Michigan soldier killed in Iraq. However, several blocks away, federal officers run into a veterans hospital, who say they are not answerable to the governor, but the flag remained at full staff.
Last month, Congress passed a bill that would give presidents the power to order all officials in their states, including federal authorities, to lower the flag. After some research I was unable to find out whether President Bush signed the measure or vetoed it.
In the states where the flags are lowered, the size of the ranks of officials varies.
Every time a soldier from California is killed, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican man, commanded the American flag and lowered it to the Capitol. In Wisconsin, Gov. James Doyle, a Democrat, lowers the flag on all public buildings in such an event, while Virginia and New Mexico, both with Democratic governors, are just state flags.
Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman is not among the officials who lowered the flags. His plan was to allow officials in the community to request that the soldier’s home flag be lowered locally on the day of the soldier’s funeral. “He thinks it is appropriate to honor the soldier and the sacrifice,” said the spokesman for the praetor. In Ohio, an officer ordered that flags be lowered in the state for each Iowa killed overseas.
As for Nebraska’s proposed local proposal, the Omaha Journal reported that they had asked elders around the state and obtained permission from the governor for those community observations. Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey has done so every time an Omaha soldier dies in Iraq or Afghanistan. major speaker Heineman always approved of the request.
Violation of the Standard Code carries no penalty.
The statutes of the Standard Code are constitutions of polity and propriety; they have no penalty associated with the violation. Generally, people violate the Code for commercial reasons or as a gesture of protest against government actions. And sometimes, just because!
For example, in sporting events, the flag is often shown to be carried across the playing field, in clear violation of § 8 (c), “The flag must never be carried flat or horizontally, but always up and free.” Every July 4th, stores are full of shirts and scarves that display the flag despite the obvious ban using flags on clothing or clothing. Car dealers in our city are displaying large American flags, obviously to attract the buyer: that is, advertising.
Flag as Protest “desecration”
It is also illegal to set fire to United States as a gesture of protest. While this is strictly outside the scope of this article, it is of great concern to many. The judges were unanimous in striking down laws punishing the burning or destruction of the United States flag as such conduct constitutes political protest. . The First Amendment allows all behavior that may be objectionable, but to be freely permitted. Not only is this protest allowed, but the very word “desecration” is inappropriate. In my mind, that word connotes a sacred or religious object or object.
In any case, the periodic upheaval and demand for constitutional amendment suggest multiple instances of flag burning in the United States. > — — a rarity actually. It seems to be a popular meaning of protesting United States’ behavior or even existence in other countries; but that is hardly a matter of the law of the United States of America.
Diversity is flying the flag in the middle of the crew.
We are a great country that prides itself on many expressions. It is only fitting that the lowering of the flag, a gesture of respect and great sense of person, considers the variety of such feelings.
