Michael Jackson Controversy: California Mayor Ordered U.S. Flag at Half-Staff
On the day of Michael Jackson’s funeral, Mayor Jim Dear of Carson, Calif., ordered that the American flag outside City Hall be lowered to half-staff, a gesture generally used to honor the deaths of presidents, police officers, firefighters and other heroes. The decision created a national backlash, prompting Dear to make a 180-degree turn — and mount an effort to ensure mayors follow the rules when lowering the U.S. flag.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Dear is not actually a Michael Jackson fan, saying, “I have issues with his lifestyle.” He made the decision to lower the flag based on requests from young people in his city who liked the King of Pop. “My view is it’s a generational schism,” he said of the different views of whether to honor Jackson.
Lowering the flag created a backlash, however, with Dear getting about 30 complaints from around the country. Though a city policy enacted in 1996 gave the mayor the right to determine when to lower the flag, he consulted with a flag expert and the city’s Veterans Affairs Commission.
Dear then decided to introduce legislation to take away the mayor’s authority to lower the U.S. flag. The bill was passed by the City Council on Tuesday. (The mayor maintains the right to lower the city flag, but not the U.S. flag.)
Dear told the Times that he may introduce a similar resolution at the next U.S. Conference of Mayors to ensure that all U.S. cities follow proper flag protocol. The paper points out that under these restrictions, the mayor of Buffalo, N.Y., could not have lowered the flag for TV journalist and native son Tim Russert.
Federal law on displaying the U.S. flag states that: “By order of the President, the flag shall be flown at half-staff upon the death of principal figures of the United Sates Government and the Governor of a State, territory, or possession, as a mark of respect to their memory . . . In the event of the death of a present or former official of the government of any State, territory, or possession of the United States, the Governor of that State, territory, or possession may proclaim that the National flag shall be flown at half-staff.”
So Dear seems to be correct that it is illegal for a state official to lower the American flag to honor the death of anyone other than government officials (a group that I presume includes the police and firefighters).
In my opinion, the American flag is a sacred symbol of freedom and hope and should not be lowered to half-staff for anyone other than presidents, leaders and true heroes. The American flag should definitely not be lowered for pop singers.
