

The National Police Association (NPA) is a 501(c)3 Educational/Advocacy non-profit organization. New Albany Park Condominium Association Board of Directors et al, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio Eastern Division. The case is 1:22-cv-00237 National Police Association, Inc. You'll note when parties have been able to ban the Thin Blue Line as a symbol of support for law enforcement they rarely provide an alternative symbol of support they will permit. Betsy Brantner Smith (Ret), the spokesperson for the National Police Association, says: "Although this matter is purely a question of law, more broadly the Thin Blue Line in all its forms has come under attack from anti-police activists who seek to eliminate any symbol of support for law enforcement. of The Bopp Law Firm of Terre Haute, Indiana, counsel for Plaintiffs, "HOA covenants that prohibit the display of the Thin Blue Line flag are in violation of the First Amendment and the threats by the HOA to enforce their prohibition in court are without merit." I invite officers to comment below on law enforcement’s use of the Blue Line flag.Īnd, as always, thank you, officers, for your devotion to protecting and serving and willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice.According to James Bopp Jr. Our thin blue line flag is used by police officers to symbolize their role as the protectors of civilians from criminals and to commemorate fallen law. If you look at some court cases that have applied this test, you’ll see it’s not easy to meet. Here’s a whole article about that – Why “free speech” keeps costing cops their careers.
#Blue line flag free
If your department decides a Blue Line flag shall not be displayed, your decision to display it is not protected free speech unless it meets a three-prong test set by the Supreme Court. Free speech?įor officers, they must understand the difference between the free speech of private citizens the Supreme Court addressed in Eichman and their more limited free speech as public employees of the government. They may also want to consider whether they think it violates the U.S.

So, before a department sanctions displaying a Blue Line flag, administrators may want to consider that, while not illegal, many citizens, including those who strongly support law enforcement, have a negative reaction to this appropriation of the American flag. But in numerous places where it's sold online, it's called the Thin Blue Line American Flag or the American Thin Blue Line Flag. They argue that it's not a desecration of the American flag, because it's a completely different flag. Supporters of the Blue Line flag are not insensitive to the Flag Code’s standards.
#Blue line flag code
Flag Code has no penalty provision and is considered advisory flag etiquette.
#Blue line flag download
Download 310+ Royalty Free USA Thin Blue Line Flag Vector Images. Eichman, addressing flag burning, the Supreme Court invalidated the federal law against flag desecration as violating free speech under the First Amendment. The best selection of Royalty Free USA Thin Blue Line Flag Vector Art, Graphics and Stock Illustrations. Violation of the Flag Code originally contained a criminal penalty of a fine and up to one year in jail. The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature. The provision of the Flag Code that opponents of the Blue Line flag say it violates is: Thousands of new, high-quality pictures added every day. Dad went to ‘Nam as a Master Gunner E-9 and returned a Chief Warrant Officer, mainly because they needed CWOs to replace the ones who were killed. Find blue line flag stock images in HD and millions of other royalty-free stock photos, illustrations and vectors in the Shutterstock collection. Mom, my brother and I stayed behind in Northern Virginia and drove by a statue of the Marines raising the flag at Iwo Jima whenever we went on base at Quantico, Virginia. Dad was a career Marine who served in ’Nam as an “old man” in his 40s in charge of the Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) in Da Nang. I wish my Dad were alive so I could ask him what he thought about the Blue Line flag.

Others who hold the “red, white and blue” dear share her concern. As she explained, “It's not just the blue line though, red, yellow and every other color line that is used in any type of official capacity makes my stomach knot up.” Jill believes this is a “desecration” of the American flag, which she holds dear. Flag Code seriously, Jill’s question for me was, “How is this allowed to continue?” Jill wrote, "I've seen it on uniforms, patrol cars, letterheads, business cards, the walls of police stations and even run up poles at the same level as our red, white and blue."Ī former school color guard, who takes the U.S. 8 rules for properly displaying an American flag
