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May 10, 2011
California Balks at Public Display of American Flag Says It’s an impermissible “public expression.”
California Balks at Public Display of American Flag
Says It’s an impermissible “public expression.”
In the small town of Orcutt, California, a private association has raised donations to erect a flagpole and monument between a highway exit and a park-and-ride lot, at the entrance to the community’s Old Town section. The pole would hang the American flag, encircled by five pillars, one each for the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard. The California Department of Transportation (CalTrans), however, has stymied the effort, calling it an impermissible act of “public expression.”
The Orcutt Pioneer reports that, although the Old Town Orcutt Revitalization Association (OTORA) “intends its flag as a tribute and symbol of freedom” — which would seem to be how most Americans would view their nation’s flag — “CalTrans sees it as a form of speech or expression, something more personal than patriotic.”
OTORA, a typical Tocquevillean-style private civil association, has been fundraising for over a year to collect the necessary $60,000 to build the flagpole and monument, above which would wave a 12-by-18-foot iteration Stars and Stripes. But CalTrans has declared that its policy forbids such efforts. In a letter to OTORA, CalTrans explains that it developed its policy in response to a ruling released by a 3-judge panel of the notorious Ninth Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, a ruling that was issued in response to impromptu flag-hanging in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The panel’s ruling demanded “viewpoint neutrality.” That is, if CalTrans was going to allow the hanging of the American flag on public land, then it must also allow the hanging of all flags — whether the British flag, the Nazi flag, or the Jolly Rogers — as well as “expressive banners” of all sorts. In its letter to OTORA, CalTrans writes,
To answer your question regarding the court’s decision in Brown v. California Department of Transportation pertaining to flying the American Flag in the State right of way, it was established that, “The display of the United States flag constituted expressive activity, within the meaning of the First Amendment.”
The concern that we have in this situation is that, whether a flag hanging on a bridge [not OTORA’s proposal], or a monument placed within a park and ride lot [the proposal], we would be placed in a position of having to permit all forms of expression as encroachments in the right of way if we were to allow yours. As such, the department has determined that the state highway system is not a forum for public expression except as expressly allowed.
Last summer, a few days before the Fourth of July, CalTrans painted over a 35-foot American flag mural on a hillside in the East Bay, several hours north of Orcutt, which had been completed in the wake of the terrorist attacks. CalTrans painted over the mural with gray paint. Even before the Fourth, a couple of industrious citizens painted it red, white, and blue again. After being heavily criticized, CalTrans apologized.
Wild Thing's comment........
How horrible what is wrong with these people. How can they not love America, love our Flag..... it is very upsetting.
Posted by Wild Thing at May 10, 2011 05:50 AM
Comments
Whats next? Jerry (moon beam) Brown will probably have a hammer & sickle painted on that hill as a show of his new found authority as the messiah of Kalyfornia.
Posted by: Eddie (Enemy of the State) at May 10, 2011 08:36 AM
my names mark i am a veteran and you do not want the american flag displayed i fought for your freedom and i will be damned you will tell me not to display the flag i say you either love this country or leave it usa usa thank you
Posted by: mark colwell at May 10, 2011 02:01 PM
Oh, those little people clinging to guns, reliogion and patriotism must think they're part of a nation that's proud of its heritage or something... power corrupts, but bureaucratic left/libtard big gov't corrupts absolutely.
Posted by: Anonymous at May 10, 2011 05:54 PM
After spending about 45 days looking for A-Bombs that went down with the B-52 over Spain, they cut our ship loose. and sailed or limped was a better word for that old tub, out the gates of Gibraltar and then down south a little bit. In that 45 days, there was only one Marine who was allowed off the ship, he spoke spanish and got to see Rota. It was a real hassel just being there twiddling your thumbs and doing nothing day after day. So heading down South a bit there was a Small American Base as we chugged into the port the first thing we see, was the Stars and stripes, it must of been on a pole about 100 feet in the air and was a really large flag, and that was a site for some really sore eyes. And Proud I can't tell you how great everyone felt just being there. This was 1965 When the Bomber went down in Spain. Now these bastards are telling me, us that we can't fly our own flag at home, because it might offend some friggin Mexican or other wetback, fuck 'em. On that cruise we moved house about 3 times and had to here. But I wll never forget that flag and how good everybody felt about just being on an American Base.
Posted by: Mark at May 10, 2011 09:15 PM
Thank you everyone.
Mark, thank you so much for sharing that. WOW what a feeling to see our Flag like that.
I hate these people that treat our Flag this way and so much of the time they get their way. What I would want to happen is for them to get locked up for being against our country.
Posted by: Wild Thing at May 11, 2011 03:08 AM
"EFF" Caltrans, just put it up anyway, don't say you are going to, nor the time, just do it, have local veterans surround the construction site, and then see what the kommies do. They want a fight over the attempt to tear it down?- Rest ASSURED, they'll get it.
Posted by: pontiff alex at May 11, 2011 01:29 PM
Does everybody know that this flag is less than three miles from Vandenberg Airforce base? When California finally goes under for the third time we should not cut them any slack. I understand how the state turned antiAmerican but I am sure that we need to do someting about that. Maybe "The 5000 Year Leap" needs to be manditory High School text out there. Call the course American Studies.
Posted by: Avitar at May 12, 2011 01:22 AM
Does everybody know that this flag is less than three miles from Vandenberg Airforce base? When California finally goes under for the third time we should not cut them any slack. I understand how the state turned antiAmerican but I am sure that we need to do someting about that. Maybe "The 5000 Year Leap" needs to be manditory High School text out there. Call the course American Studies.
Posted by: Avitar at May 12, 2011 01:22 AM
