Texas v. Johnson
A 1989 U.S. Supreme Court decision holding that burning the American flag as political protest is protected expression under the First Amendment.
Expressive conduct: Conduct that communicates an idea and may receive constitutional protection as speech. The Court classified Johnson’s flag burning as expressive conduct.
Gregory Lee Johnson: A political activist whose flag burning at the 1984 Republican National Convention led to the case. His protest and conviction supplied the facts the Supreme Court reviewed.
Flag Protection Act of 1989: A federal statute prohibiting flag desecration, enacted after the Supreme Court’s decision in Texas v. Johnson. Congress’s attempt to prohibit flag burning prompted a follow-up case testing Johnson’s rule.
Flag desecration: The destruction, defacement, or misuse of a flag, often as political protest. The decision protects flag desecration when it communicates a political message.
O'Brien test: A constitutional test for laws that regulate conduct with both expressive and nonexpressive elements. The Court distinguished this test because Texas targeted the message conveyed by the flag burning.
Republican National Convention, 1984: The 1984 Republican Party convention held in Dallas, Texas. Johnson burned the flag during a protest outside this convention.
William J. Brennan Jr.: An associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1956 to 1990, known for expansive protections of civil liberties. Brennan wrote the majority opinion protecting Johnson’s political protest.
First Amendment to the United States Constitution: The constitutional amendment protecting freedoms including speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition. Johnson became a prominent precedent on the amendment’s protection of unpopular expression.
Content-based discrimination: Government regulation of expression based on its subject matter or communicated viewpoint. The Court found Texas’s interest in preserving the flag’s symbolism tied to the expression’s content.
Texas Flag Desecration Law: A Texas statute criminalizing the desecration of certain venerated objects, including the American flag. Johnson was convicted under this law before the Supreme Court overturned his conviction.