Overview

• The executive order instructs Attorney General Pam Bondi to prioritize prosecutions tied to flag desecration and to pursue litigation testing the limits of First Amendment exceptions.
• The directive does not create a new crime or set penalties, even as the president verbally mentioned a one-year jail term that is not in the order.
• A man identified as Jay Carey, a 20-year Army veteran, burned a flag near the White House and was detained by the Secret Service before U.S. Park Police charged him under a federal rule against fires in public parks.
• Justice Department guidance points prosecutors to use content-neutral laws and alternative theories such as property or violent-crime statutes, with referrals to state and local authorities, setting up likely court challenges.
• Decades-old Supreme Court precedent protects most flag burning as expressive conduct, and polling reported by CBS News shows about two-thirds of Americans favor making the act illegal.