A 22-year-old Illinois man filed a lawsuit [complaint, PDF] Wednesday after he was arrested for posting a video of him burning a flag, calling the state’s law unconstitutional. Byron Bryton Mellot posted six pictures on social media of him burning an American flag on July 4, 2015. These posts led police to arrest Mellot at his work, resulting in him being detained for multiple hours. Mellot stated [Chicago Tribune report] after his arrest that, “open dissent is the highest form of American patriotism.” He is being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Illinois [advocacy website] which stated [press release], “We are asking the court to strike down the Illinois law to ensure that law enforcement in Urbana and across Illinois know that this statute cannot be enforced.” The US Supreme Court first ruled that flag burning was protected as free speech in Texas v. Johnson [text] in 1989. Further backing up their decision, the court protected the right to burn the flag in 1990 with United States v. Eichman [text]. Despite this federal ruling, 40 states still have laws making flag burning illegal. President-elect Donald Trump has said that anyone who burns a flag should face consequences, such as loss of citizenship or jail time, despite the Supreme Court rulings.

Many people have come out condemning the actions of burning a flag, but respect the Supreme Court’s decision to protect citizens that do. In May 2014 the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit [official website] ruled [JURIST report] that Missouri’s ban on flag was burning unconstitutional. This decision was held on appeal from a decision in March 2012 the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri [official website] ruled [JURIST report] that a ban could not be enforced against burning a flag. In 2006 a proposed amendment failed by one vote [JURIST report], which would have made flag burning illegal.