Is the NFL's anthem policy constitutional? Not in some states, law prof argues

When playing the national anthem before the game, the player stands and kneels. Keith Allison from Wikimedia Commons

According to Nicolas Bowie, a law professor at Harvard University, the National Constitution protects those who were fined for violating the ban on protest actions in the national anthem of the National Football League.

In the revised NFL policy, during the national anthem, players can choose to stay in the changing room or stand in the court. In the article on Slate, Bowie violated the claim of the first revision because President Donald Trump has influenced the decision-making process or the NFL stadium was built with government subsidies I admit it.

But Bowie said that a better place to look for unconstitutionality is the state constitution and that each constitution has its own freedom of speech provision. "The State Supreme Court allows organizations like the NFL to accept the same constitutional standards as the government than the US Supreme Court," he wrote.

Bowie said that the first amendment will begin with "not being enacted by Congress." The US Supreme Court says it will not protect speech unless there is state or federal bureaucracy activity. For this reason, the US Supreme Court ruled that the owner of the store does not require the protesters who wish to distribute leaflets to open up the space under the first amendment provision.

However, the California Supreme Court has different interpretations about the terms of freedom of speech. The article states "everyone can talk freely," the State Supreme Court said, which prevented the owners of private shopping centers from banning protesters.

Bowie stated that many states will follow the principles of California, explain the freedom of speech in their constitution, and prohibit private organizations from fined protesters. Some state courts to protect protesters allow the rational rules to minimize disturbance. However, due to concerns about fans or president's adverse reactions, NFL obviously adopted that rule. "In this case, the National Football League's policy could violate some state constitutions," Bowie wrote.

President Donald Trumph criticized Marshall Lynch as representing the national anthem of Mexico, not the United States. According to Joe Lockhart, the spokesperson for the National Football League, NFL owners change their policy languages ​​and require players to stand on the national anthem. Asking for players will help the league's image and return to the fans. However, forcing players to violate their values ​​is morally wrong and may drive other fans away. What do you think? This national anthem protest is enough. NFL players can protest what they want, but you can not protect the flag. By asking the player to stand up, the league may be supported by fans who ran through the NFL. Even fans sympathetic to this cause can not support protests because they can not get rid of their rude nature. This is what Roger Goodall said.

What does 'rude' mean between national anthems? NFL players who choose to crouch and demonstrate are doing this for important reasons, not respecting the national flag. The alliance owner can extend the definition in some way to help kill the player by including "respect" in the new policy.