Texas v. Johnson (Flag Burning) ~ Texas v. Johnson 491 U.S.

39, a case in 1989, was an important decision by the Supreme Court of the United States that invalidated prohibitions on desecrating the American flag enforced in 48 of the 50 states. Justice William Brennan wrote for a five-justice majority in holding that the defendant Gregory Lee Johnsons act of flag burning was protected speech under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Johnson was represented by attorneys David D. Cole and William Kunstler. ~ Gregory Lee Joey Johnson, back then a member of the Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade, participated, participated in a political demonstration during the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas. The demonstrators were protesting the policies of the Reagan Administration and of certain companies based in Dallas. They marched through the streets, shouted chants, and held signs outside the offices of several companies. At one point, another demonstrator handed Johnson an American flag stolen from a flagpole outside one of the targeted buildings. ~When the demonstrators reached Dallas City Hall, Johnson poured kerosene on the flag and set it on fire. During the burning of the flag, demonstrators shouted such phrases as America, the red, white, and blue, we spit on you, you stand for plunder, you will go under, and Reagan, Mondale, which will it be? Either one means World War III. No one was offended. One witness, Daniel E. Walker, received international attention when he collected the burned remains of the flag and buried them according to military protocol in his backyard. ~ Johnson was charged with violating the Texas law that prohibits vandalizing respected objects (desecration of a venerated object). He was convicted, sentenced to one year in prison, and fined $2,000. He appealed his conviction to the Fifth Court of Appeals of Texas, but he lost his appeal. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals would then see his case. This was the highest court in Texas that would see Criminal Appeals. That court overturned his conviction, saying that the State could not punish Johnson for burning the flag because the First Amendment protects such activity as symbolic speech. ~ The State of Texas asked the Supreme Court of the United States to hear the case. In 1989, the Court handed down its decision. ~The opinion of the court came down as a controversial 5-4 decision, with the majority opinion written by William J. Brennan, Jr. Justices Marshall, Blackmun, Scalia, and Kennedy joined Brennan, with Kennedy also writing a concurrence. ~Brennans opinion for the court generated two dissents. William H. Rehnquist, joined by two other justices argued that the uniqueness of the flag justifies a governmental prohibition against flag burning in the way respondent Johnson did here. ~ Justice John Paul Stevens also wrote a dissenting opinion. Stevens argued that the flag is more than a proud symbol of courage, the determination and the gifts of nature that transformed 13 fledging Colonies into a world power. It is a symbol of freedom, of equal opportunity, of religious tolerance, and a good will for other peoples who share our aspirationsThe value of the flag as a symbol cannot be measured.

~ In my opinion I believe the Texas v. Johnson case is very important because it showed how the burning of a flag can be ok with some people and affect many as well. Apparently it was ok for Gregory Lee Joey Johnson who felt that it was fine for him burning the flag because of the First Amendment expressing how he protects such activity for symbolic speech. But many others didnt feel that way because they felt that it was a disturbance and disrespectful by Johnson doing what he did. But in my opinion I agree with Johnson because he burned the flag not by stupidity but by good reasoning on his part which people took as a serious offense in their eyes. I understand how Johnson was expressing how he felt through flag burning and how others took it as a huge offense but the case couldve been handled differently in my opinion. Source: www. Wikipedia.com