Displaying signs was unpopular, but a right

A California shopkeeper who was recently ordered to remove North Vietnamese Communist symbols is now enjoying his freedom of speech, and rightly so.

While many deemed his choice of décor to be offensive and politically atrocious, Truong Van Tran had a constitutional right to display whatever political affiliations he felt appropriate.

The freedom of speech was designed for just such an interest. At he time the Bill of Rights was constructed, people feared persecution for the expression of political, religious, and personal beliefs. They created the First Amendment as a way to protect themselves from such persecution.

Tran's choice to display these symbols was also an expression of political opinion. The symbols were no explicit or obscene; they merely made an unpopular political statement.

While the general reaction to these symbols is understandable, the judicial decision to force him to remove them was in poor Constitutional spirit. The retraction of such a judgment was the only way to protect the spirit of the Constitution.