Tweet
In the United States, burning banknotes is prohibited under 18 U.S.C. § 333: Mutilation of national bank obligations, which includes "any other thing" that renders a note "unfit to be reissued". In an amicus brief for Atwater v. City of Lago Vista, Solicitor General Seth Waxman writes that arresting an individual who removes the corner dollar values "may expose a counterfeiting operation". It is unclear if the statute has ever been applied in response to the complete destruction of a bill. Certainly people have publicly burned small amounts of money for political protests that were picked up by the media — Living Things at South by Southwest, Larry Kudlow on The Call — without apparent consequence.
The question of legality has been compared to the much more politically charged issue of flag desecration. In 1989, in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Flag Protection Act, former U.S. Attorney General William Barr testified that any regulation protecting something purely for its symbolic value would be struck down as unconstitutional. The Senate report recommending passage of the Act argued that Barr's theory would render 18 U.S.C. § 333 unconstitutional as well. In a dissent in Smith v. Goguen, Justice Rehnquist counted 18 U.S.C. § 333 in a group of statutes in which the Government protects its interest in some private property which is "not a traditional property interest". On the other hand, the Government's interest in protecting circulating currency might not be purely symbolic; it costs the Bureau of Engraving and Printing approximately 5 cents to replace a note.
The question of legality has been compared to the much more politically charged issue of flag desecration. In 1989, in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Flag Protection Act, former U.S. Attorney General William Barr testified that any regulation protecting something purely for its symbolic value would be struck down as unconstitutional. The Senate report recommending passage of the Act argued that Barr's theory would render 18 U.S.C. § 333 unconstitutional as well. In a dissent in Smith v. Goguen, Justice Rehnquist counted 18 U.S.C. § 333 in a group of statutes in which the Government protects its interest in some private property which is "not a traditional property interest". On the other hand, the Government's interest in protecting circulating currency might not be purely symbolic; it costs the Bureau of Engraving and Printing approximately 5 cents to replace a note.
also the pictures crack me up!
Comment