Resolution No. 359863
RESOLUTION NO. 3598
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CYPRESS
EXPRESSING ITS DISAPPOINTMENT AND INDIGNATION
WITH THE DECISION OF THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT
SHIELDING PERSONS WHO BURN AND DESTROY THE FLAG
OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FROM PROSECUTION.
WHEREAS, on June 21, 1989, the Supreme Court of the United
States decided the case of Texas v. Gregory Lee Johnson; and
WHEREAS, the Court decreed that publicly burning an American
flag is protected speech under the First Amendment; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Cypress does hereby
express extreme disappointment with this flawed decision; and
WHEREAS, the Flag of the United States occupies a unique
position as the symbol of our nation; and
WHEREAS, the uniqueness of the Flag has been created by
history as the symbol of universal honor and respect of our
nation in peace and at war; and
WHEREAS, the Flag is prominently displayed in public
buildings from the United States Capitol to the thousands of City
Halls and County Courthouses throughout the country; and
WHEREAS, the traditional placing of the Flag on the caskets
of deceased members of the armed forces from the Revolutionary
War to the Persian Gulf is a mark of respect to the memory of
those who gave their lives in defense of their country; and
WHEREAS, for those proud men who fought on the beaches of
Normandy in Europe, the scorched earth of Iwo Jima and Okinawa in
the Pacific during the Second World War, the mountains of Korea
and the jungles of Vietnam, the Flag holds a singular honor
revered over all other national symbols; and
WHEREAS, both the Congress and the States have enacted laws
prohibiting the public mutilating, defacing, defiling, burning or
other desecration of the Flag.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the
City of Cypress wishes to express in the strongest manner its
profound disappointment and indignation with the Johnson decision
which shields persons who publicly burn the Flag of the United
States of America from prosecution.
FURTHER, BE IT RESOLVED that the Flag is a symbol which
deserves a unique and special protection as the most visible
symbol embodying our Country.
FURTHER, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of
Cypress calls upon the United States Congress to pass legislation
or sponsor a Constitutional Amendment which will protect the Flag
from public desecration.
PASSED AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of
Cypress at a regular meeting held on the 10th day of July, 1989.
MAYOR OF II CITY OF CYPRESS
ATTEST:
CITY t RT THE ITY OF CYPRESS
STATE OF CALIFORNIA)
COUNTY OF ORANGE ) SS
I, DARRELL ESSEX, City Clerk of the City of Cypress, DO
HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing Resolution as duly adopted at a
regular meeting of the said City Council held on the 10th day of
July 1989, by the following roll call vote:
AYES: 4 COUNCIL MEMBERS: Age, Arnold, Kerry and Kanel
NOES: 0 COUNCIL MEMBERS: None
ABSENT: 0 COUNCIL MEMBERS: None
CITY' 'CLERP� diV CITY OF CYPRESS