Answer:
Texas vs. Johnson is a decision of the Supreme Court made in 1989, invalidating the ban on the public burning of the American flag. The majority opinion was prepared by William Brennan. The court found that flag burning as a form of protest is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.
The defendant, Gregory Lee Johnson, participated in the 1984 Republican National Convention rally in Dallas against President Reagan's policies. Demonstrators marched through the streets and shouted slogans. One of the participants tore the flag from the building and gave it to Johnson. When the march reached the city hall, Johnson doused the flag with kerosene and set it on fire. Many demonstrators supported him with shouts.
Under Texas laws, Johnson was sentenced for vandalism to a year in prison and a fine of $ 2,000. Johnson appealed to the Texas Fifth Court of Appeals, but lost. Johnson then filed with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state’s highest criminal court. The Court of Appeal acquitted Johnson, equating his actions to speech.
State representatives said that maintaining order and protecting the symbol of national unity is more important than the right to freedom of speech, expressed in a symbolic and ambiguous form. The court took the exact opposite position. As a result, at the initiative of the state, the case was transferred to the Supreme Court.
In the court's view, the protection afforded by the First Amendment does not end only with the spoken and written word. The court thus rejected the argument that the flag can not be characterized as speech (since the First Amendment only protects speech). What is important for a procedure to be characterized as speech is the intention to convey a particular message through that process, as well as the likelihood that the message will be understood by those who see it.
