Congress seeks power to criminalize flag burning as political protest
H.J.Res. 101 — Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States giving Congress power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States. · Filed by Steve Womack (R-AR) · 24 cosponsors · Introduced Jun 13, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment that would give Congress the power to pass laws prohibiting the physical destruction or desecration of the American flag. Currently, the Supreme Court has ruled that flag burning is protected speech under the First Amendment; this amendment would overturn that protection and allow Congress to criminalize it.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole function is to propose a constitutional amendment narrowing First Amendment protections by empowering Congress to criminalize flag desecration. It is a straightforward, if controversial, proposal to restrict expressive conduct.
What the text implies
- If ratified, this amendment would reverse the Supreme Court's 1989 decision in Texas v. Johnson (492 U.S. 397), which held flag burning is protected symbolic speech under the First Amendment.
- The amendment grants Congress broad discretion to define 'physical desecration' — no limiting language specifies what conduct qualifies, potentially capturing other forms of flag treatment.
- Ratification requires approval by 38 state legislatures within seven years; the amendment does not take effect unless this threshold is met, making passage uncertain but the proposal's intent clear.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
This amendment would restrict a form of political expression currently protected by the First Amendment. Citizens would lose the legal right to engage in flag desecration as protest, and Congress would gain power to criminalize conduct that is now constitutionally protected speech. The restriction falls directly on ordinary citizens' expressive rights.
Named in the bill
U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, Congress, State legislatures
Where it stands
24 cosponsors: 24 Republicans.
- Jun 13, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 13, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,345 characters) on Nov 2, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,927 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-11-02.
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