Thread: Town puts the skids on foreign flag flying.

Town Bans Foreign Flags Flying Alone

By William M. Welch, USA TODAY

(Nov. 11) - The Nevada town of Pahrump is taking a stand not just against illegal immigrants but flags they may bring with them.

The elected town board in the remote Mojave Desert community voted 3-2 on Tuesday to enact an ordinance making it illegal to fly a foreign nation's flag by itself.

Flying another country's flag, whether it is a British Union Jack or the flag of Mexico, is punishable by a $50 fine and 30 hours' community service, unless it is flown below an American flag.

"Old Glory is sovereign," says Paul Willis, a retired carpenter and board member. "You can't fly any other nation's flag higher than the American flag."

The American Civil Liberties Union says the flag restriction violates the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech.

"There's no doubt about it," says Lisa Rasmussen, a board member of the Nevada ACLU. "People have a right, as much as we don't like it, to fly ... any flag they wish."

Pahrump is a rural fast-growing town of 33,000 about 60 miles west of Las Vegas. It is part of sprawling Nye County, home of the closest legal brothels to Las Vegas.

The law passed as part of a package of measures that also declared English the official language of Pahrump and denies town benefits to illegal immigrants.

"We don't have any" benefits, town manager David Richards says. "If we ever have any, they'll be denied to illegal immigrants."



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Supporters say the law is a stand on principle and doubts anyone will be arrested for violating it.

"I can't conceive of there being anyone cited for it," said board Chairman Richard Billman, who voted against the ordinance.

The ordinance's sponsor, Michael Miraglia, a retired Illinois state worker, said the flag restriction was a reaction to nationwide demonstrations in May against a crackdown on illegal immigration. He said he didn't like seeing protesters waving Mexican flags and demanding immigrants not go to work that day.

"In Pahrump, we had Mexican restaurants closed that day," he complained. "Only one restaurant stayed open."

Rasmussen said the ACLU would probably take legal action against the town.

"People are nuts out there," she says. "Totally nuts."

11/16/2006 07:03

Way to go Pahrump! Too bad you can't make a law banning the ACLU.

The American Civil Liberties Union says the flag restriction violates the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech.

Is this the best argument the ACLU can come up with? Every town that is trying to pass their own illegal alien legislation gets slapped with this 1st amendment crap from the ACLU.
This really shows how weak their arguments are. If I was a judge, I'd be laughing half of their cases out of court.

Pahrump

American Civil Liberties Union , commie pinko's, Bahhhaaaaa Bahaaaaa.

How is flying a foreign flag, freedom of speech, when it's not displayed properly? They are not forbidding flying a foreign flag.......only to fly it correctly. Even with freedom of speech it doesn't entitle you to say anything you want.

That's interesting, given that international protocol calls for flags of countries to be flown at equal height, and only the flags of subordinate political entities to be flown below that of a given country. For example, all state flags (except the Texas flag) must be flown below the flag of the United States, but a foreign flag, such as the British Union Jack, would be flown at the same height as the US flag according to protocol. The Union Jack should not be flown above a state flag, however, because the state (of the United States) is not a subordinate of Britain.