North Dakota: Desecration of the flag misdemeanor which occurs if someone "casts contempt upon any flag of the United States by publicly mutilating, defacing, defiling, burning, or trampling upon it."
A "flag" is defined very broadly, including "any flag, standard, colors, or ensign, or any picture or representation of either, or of any part or parts of either, made of any substance or represented on any substance, of any size evidently purporting to be either of said flag, standard, colors, or ensign of the United States of America, or a picture or a representation of either, upon which shall be shown the colors, the stars and the stripes, in any number of either thereof, or of any part or parts of either, by which the average person seeing the same without deliberation may believe the same to represent the flag, standard, colors, or ensign of the United States of America."
Penalty: none specified.
Source: 12.1-07-01 Code
Analysis:
One interesting aspect to the North Dakota law on flag desecration isn't obvious from the above quote: this provision is listed in the same section as the law against treason. Apparently, North Dakota lawmakers consider treason against the United States and desecrating the American flag to be related crimes.
As with many other state laws against flag desecration, North Dakota specifies the casting of "contempt" on the flag as the actual crime, with acts like defacing and burning the flag listed as examples of how one might achieve this. Either the lawmakers didn't think that there was any other means of casting contempt on the flag, or they believed that only these means of casting contempt were worth criminalizing. Either way, what's actually being criminalized is the expression of attitudes and ideas which the government doesn't approve of.
More:
- Overview of State Laws on Flag Abuse, Burning, Desecration
- Index of State Laws on Flag Abuse, Burning, Desecration
