US EditionDOJ moves to drop charges against man who burned U.S. flag outside White House
The Justice Department dismissed misdemeanor fire charges against veteran Jan Carey amid First Amendment concerns and a federal judge's ruling questioning the prosecution's basis.
- On Friday, federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., moved to dismiss charges against Jan "Jay" Carey after he set an American flag ablaze across from the White House, ahead of a Monday deadline.
- The executive order and subsequent judicial review together prompted the Justice Department to scrutinize whether prosecutions target protected speech, following Chief Judge James Boasberg's January ruling.
- The counts against Jan Carey, which were not for flag desecration, alleged two misdemeanor counts for lighting fires that carried a fine or up to six months' custody, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office said.
- The development represents a setback for Jeanine Pirro as Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Carey’s lawyer, called the Justice Department filing Friday "long overdue" and a "very significant victory" for First Amendment rights.
- The U.S. Supreme Court's 1989 decision recognizes flag burning as protected speech, while Trump's executive order urges prosecutors to focus on content-neutral laws or imminent lawless action exceptions.
25 Articles
25 Articles
Feds Move to Drop Charges Against Veteran in Flag Burning
Jay Carey, 55, of Arden, North Carolina, who has said he served in the Army from 1989 to 2012 and was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, was arrested on Aug. 25 after he set fire to a flag in Lafayette Park, which the National Park Service oversees.
Associated Press News
Feds move to dismiss charges against Army veteran who burned American flag near White House
The Justice Department has moved to dismiss charges against an Army veteran who set fire to an American flag near the White House last year to protest President Donald Trump’s executive order on flag burning.
Trump DOJ quietly quits case against flag-burning protester at White House
President Donald Trump's Justice Department is dropping charges against a man who burned the American flag outside the White House last year.Burning the American flag has long been recognized by the Supreme Court as protected political speech under the First Amendment.Despite this, criminalizing "flag desecration" is a perennial goal of hardcore cultural conservatives, and is frequently discussed on Fox News. Trump signed an executive order last…
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