VOA慢速英語：焚燒美國國旗合法嗎?

Is Burning the American Flag Legal?

焚燒美國國旗合法嗎?

The United States constitution guarantees a number of rights to U.S. citizens. One of the most famous is the right to free speech.

美國憲法保障美國公民的許多權(quán)利，其中最著名的就是言論自由。

But what if people say or do horrible things?

但是如果人們說或是做了可怕的事情怎么辦?

The Supreme 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.

美國最高法院在1989年對此看法進行過辯論。這起案件涉及了一位名為格雷戈里·李·約翰遜(Gregory Lee Johnson)的男子。在那之前幾年，他強烈反對時任總統(tǒng)里根的政策。因此，在德克薩斯州的一次政治會議上，約翰遜焚燒了美國國旗。

Police arrested him.

警察逮捕了他。

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.

約翰遜提出了上訴，稱焚燒國旗是他表達政治信仰的方式，這正是美國憲法起草者致力于保護的那種言論。

Opponents disagreed. They pointed 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.

反對者不認(rèn)同。他們指出美國國旗很特殊，而且他們還認(rèn)為焚燒不是發(fā)表言論。他們警告說，這樣的行為可能會讓人們陷入暴力。

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.

但是法院的大多數(shù)法官同意約翰遜的觀點。他們表示，即使公眾不喜歡某種看法，但人們?nèi)匀挥袡?quán)把它表達出來。

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, stolen or threatening. But for now – unless the public approves Constitutional amendment – burning the American flag is legal.

最后要指出：最高法院判例并未保護所有言論。其它判例限制了人們故意傳播虛假、道德冒犯、竊取或恐嚇的言論。但就目前而言，除非公眾批準(zhǔn)(新的)憲法修正案，否則燃燒國旗就是合法的。