224 ❯ STEP 5. Build Your Test-Taking Confidence
Section II
Question 1Suggested Writing Time: 40 minutesBased on the Constitutional First Amendment guarantee of the right to freedom of speech, some citizens and
citizen groups have used public burning of the American flag as a means of political expression. A proposed
amendment to the U.S. Constitution states: “The Congress shall have the power to prohibit the physical des-
ecration of the flag of the United States.” Is desecrating the flag a legitimate form of expression guaranteed by
the Constitution? Should the Constitution be amended to protect the flag?
Carefully read the following sources (including any introductory information). Then, in an essay that
synthesizes at least three of the sources for support, take a position that defends, challenges, or qualifies
the claim that the f lag should be protected under a constitutional amendment.
Make certain that you take a position and that the essay centers on your argument. Use the sources to
support your reasoning; avoid simply summarizing the sources. You may refer to the sources by their letters
(Source A, Source B, etc.) or by the identifiers in the parentheses below.
Source A (First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution)
Source B (The Proposed Amendment)
Source C (U S A To d a y Survey)
Source D (Two Supreme Court Decisions)
Source E (Rehnquist’s Dissenting Opinion)
Source F (Editorial in the Los Angeles Times)
Source G (Congressional Votes)
Source H (Political Cartoon by Clay Bennett)
Source I (Editorial by Todd Lindberg)Source A
From “The Bill of Rights,” The U.S. Constitution.
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right
of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of
grievances.Source B
The Proposed Amendment to the U.S. Constitution taken from The Congressional
Record. Available at https://www.congress.gov/congressional-report/108thcongress/
senate-report/334/1.
The full text of the amendment:
The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the
United States.