Arizona lawmaker wants to make stealing an American flag a felony crime

An Arizona lawmaker has proposed a bill that would make stealing the American flag a felony.

Republican state Sen. John Kavanagh recently introduced State Bill 1009, which would criminalize American flag theft as an Arizona class 6 felony — a low-level felony, but a felony nonetheless.

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It would put American flags in a class that previously had been reserved for guns and animals taken for the purpose of animal fighting. Theft of other items can be elevated to a felony depending on the monetary value.

Kavanagh told the Republic that he decided to draft and introduce the bill after a concerned Arizona citizen told him that he recently had his American flag stolen and the perpetrator was charged with only a misdemeanor.

"It occurred to me that when you steal a flag that someone is displaying other than for sale, you're not only stealing the object but you're stealing the person's expressive right," Kavanagh told the Republic.

"People display the flag for patriotism or even for protest, and you are stealing their First Amendment expression rights," he added.

According to the proposal, a judge would still have discretion to bump the charge down to a misdemeanor should the circumstances warrant.

However, according to Tuscon.com, Kavanagh's proposed law would protect only American flags, not other flags and banners such as a gay pride flag.

"You have to draw the line somewhere," he told Tuscon.com "And the flag of our nation, which has a special place in the hearts of its citizens — and in law — is the one that I think is most appropriate."

But if his proposed law passed and was challenged in court, he said he would be "OK" if the law applied to other flags as well.

At least one other state — Missouri — already has a law that makes American flag theft a felony. In addition, Arizona already penalizes "abuse" of the American flag, which is defined as "casting contempt upon, mutilating, defacing, defiling, burning, trampling or otherwise dishonoring or causing to bring dishonor upon a flag," at the level of misdemeanor.