...States Supreme Court Case Research Paper Texas v. Johnson The American flag. It’s arguably the most iconic American symbol. Even our national anthem includes the reference“whose broad stripes and bright stars”. In this song, lyricist Francis Scott Key isn't just mentioning how the flag looked at the time. He’s alluding to a deeper meaning. This flag is not only a symbol of a country, but of a brave and heroic people who defend their country’s citizens and freedoms. This illustrates the sacrality of the flag- it represents a lot more than miles of land. It represents thousands of lives lost for American citizens of all ages, colors and genders, and thousands of more lives that will be lost. The American flag is a venerated object, a national treasure- and it should be treated as such. However, Gregory Lee Johnson had a different opinion. Johnson’s unpatriotic actions in the state of Texas led to the infamous court case of Texas v. Johnson....
Words: 1214 - Pages: 5
...Analysis of a Flag Burning Case In 1984, Gregory Lee Johnson burned an American flag at a Regan campaign protest. He was subsequently arrested, convicted, and sentenced to prison in the Dallas County Criminal Court. Johnson appealed, lost in the Texas Court of Appeals, Fifth District, but eventually his conviction was overturned by the highest court in the state, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals; upon a final appeal, made by the state, the case made its way to the United States Supreme Court. Though the burning of an American flag is frowned upon for obvious reasons, it is difficult to fathom a person being arrested and imprisoned for an expressive act typically protected by the First Amendment which is why this case made it to the U.S. Supreme Court. The statute in question in this case is 42.09(a)(3) of the Texas Penal Code (1989) which states that “A person commits an offense [of desecration of a venerated object] if he intentionally or knowingly desecrates a state or national flag.” This statute makes it a criminal offense to intentionally disrespect an American flag or any other state or national flags. This statute, like all statutory law, was created by the legislative branch of government. Mr. Johnson eventually won on appeal in the highest court in the state, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Prior to his win, Johnson’s initial appeal was denied by a lower court, the Texas Court of Appeals, Fifth District. The Fifth District court agreed with the lowest court...
Words: 652 - Pages: 3
...Kaplan University Texas V. Johnson PA205-01 Texas v. Johnson Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397, 109 S.Ct. 2533, 105 L.Ed.2d 242, Argued in 1989. From case, Since the State of Texas conceded that the actions of burning the flag were expressive conduct, the Court had to decide whether the State's regulation of flag burning related to suppression of free speech in order to determine which standard to apply. Then the Court had to decide whether the State had an interest in regulating the speech, which overrode the First Amendment protections. Facts that Triggered the Dispute while the Republican National Convention was meeting in Dallas, Texas, in 1984, Gregory Johnson took part in a demonstration, protesting policies of the Reagan administration. During the demonstration, Johnson burned an American flag, and Dallas police arrested him. According to US court, Gregory Lee Johnson was arrested and convicted of desecrating a flag in violation of Texas law, a conviction which questions ones guaranteed First Amendment, constitutional rights. Johnson's involvement in a political demonstration in Dallas, lead him to express his political concerns with the nation leaders and governmental policies. The State of Texas' conviction of Johnson was carried out due to Johnson's conduct, a physically expressive act, rather than a written or spoken one and based on two criteria: a responsibility to preserve the integrity of the flag representing the strength, pride and unity of our nation...
Words: 1205 - Pages: 5
...In 1984, following a protest march through the streets of Dallas, Texas against the policies of the Reagan Administration, Gregory Lee Johnson was handed an American flag. Outside the Dallas City Hall, Johnson through the flag onto the ground, poured kerosene on it, and set fire to it. Many protesters around Johnson began a chant of, "America, the red, white, and blue, we spit on you!" While many protesters agreed with what Johnson had done, there were several others who felt extremely offended. In fact, one such person felt the need to gather the remains of the flag which he then buried in his yard. The protest was a nonviolent one and no one standing nearby was hurt or threatened. At this time, 48 of our 50 states had in place laws that prohibited the public burning of the American flag. Texas, of course, was one of these. This caused Johnson to be charged with "the desecration of a venerated object." He was found guilty and faced a sentence of a $2,000 fine and one year in prison. Johnson, appalled by this decision, appealed his case to the Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas. This court agreed with the prior one and ruled to have his conviction stand. In response, the still angry Johnson appealed his case to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. This court, unlike the previous two, found Johnson to be innocent because it found that the First Amendment protected Johnson's behavior. To arrive at this decision, the court first quickly decided that Johnson's...
Words: 1116 - Pages: 5
...Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397, 1989 Procedural Background: Gregory Johnson appealed his conviction to the Court of Appeals and lost. Johnsons then proceeded to appeal his case to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and they reversed the decision and the case was sent to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court viewed the case and overturned Johnson’s conviction. Facts: The defendant, Gregory Lee Johnson, took part in a demonstration that took place at the Republican National Convention in Texas in 1984. During a time in this nonviolent demonstration Johnson was given an American flag which he set on fire. Nobody was injured while the flag was burning, but Johnson was convicted of destroying a respected object. Johnson appealed his conviction and the Courts of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas and lost. He then proceeded to take his case to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and his conviction was overturned. The court contended that Johnson could not be punished for his exercising his right to free speech (the First Amendment). In 1989, the Supreme Court took the case and with a 5-4 vote affirmed the Texas Court of...
Words: 527 - Pages: 3
...PA205: Introduction to Legal Analysis and Writing Unit 1 Case Study In 1984, the Republican Party met in Dallas, Texas for their national convention. President Ronald Reagan, seeking a second term in office, was to be officially named the Republican Party’s candidate for President. During the convention, opponents of Reagan’s policies organized a political protest in Dallas, which attracted over 100 protestors. Among the protestors was Gregory Lee Johnson. As the demonstrators marched through the streets chanting slogans, another protester handed Gregory Johnson an American flag that had been taken from a flagpole at one of their protest locations. Upon reaching Dallas City Hall, Johnson doused the flag with kerosene and set it ablaze. Johnson and his fellow demonstrators circled the burning flag and shouted anti- American slogans. No one was injured or threatened with injury by Johnson’s act, but many who witnessed it were deeply offended. Dallas police officers arrested Johnson and charged him with violating section 42.09(a)(3) of the Texas Penal Code, which prohibited the “desecration of a venerable object.” Johnson pleaded not guilty in Dallas County Criminal Court, and after a trial was found guilty of violating the statute. He was sentenced to one year in prison and fined $2,000. State v. Johnson, No. CCR 84-46013-J (Crim. Ct. No. 7, Dallas Cnty. Tex. Dec. 13, 1984). Johnson appealed his case to the Texas Court of Appeals, Fifth District, claiming that the statute under...
Words: 538 - Pages: 3
...Afghanistan, burned a flag among a group of protesters. Rozzi was arrested for desecrating the American flag. Flag desecration is the act of intentionally destroying, damaging, or mutilating a flag. It’s usually done in the public and usually the destruction is caused to a national flag. Rozzi’s flag destruction is a form of protest which is considered a right to freedom of speech under the First Amendment of the American Constitution. The controversy of flag desecration started with the case, United States Supreme Court in Texas v. Gregory Lee Johnson in 1989, when Johnson drenched an American flag in kerosene and burned it in front of the convention building while protesting the polices of Ronald Reagan. Other protesters followed Johnson with chanting “America; red, white and blue; we spit on you.” Johnson was arrested and convicted under a Texas law for intentionally desecrating a state or national flag. He was fined $2,000 and sentenced to one year in jail. He appealed the Supreme Court decision and Texas argued that they had a right to protect the flag as a symbol of national unity. Johnson argued that his freedom to express himself protected his actions. Luckily, the Court sided with Johnson’s argument for expressing freedom of speech. The United States Supreme Court in Texas v. Johnson case generated years of debate over the meaning of the flag, including efforts to amend the Constitution to allow for a prohibition of the “physical desecration” of the flag. Because of this...
Words: 999 - Pages: 4
...The Backgorund of the Case Gregory Lee Johnson was arrested and charged with violating a Texas statute that prevented the desecration of a venerated object. In 1984 during the Republican National Convention, held that year in Dallas Texas, Johnson had accepted an American flag from a fellow protester which had been taken from a flagpole of one of the protest’s targeted buildings. After unfurling the flag, he soaked it in kerosene and then lit the flag on fire. Protestors nearby gathered around the flag and chanted the phrase “America, the red, white, and blue, we spit on you”. Although none of the participents or bystanders were physically injured or threatened, several witnesses testified that the burning of the flag was offensive to them....
Words: 725 - Pages: 3
...The case Texas v. Johnson obviously had made a hit in America in 1984. Gregory Lee Johnson, who was the leader of the revolutionary communist youth brigade, was unsatisfied with the government at that time. And thus he and his partners protested against the bias of the Republic, for the simple reason that those large enterprises have more and more benefits. They were so angry at that time, and then Johnson burned a national flag in front of the government building. The witnesses were so hurt emotionally, and one of them picked up the broken pieces and then buried them in his backyard. The police arrested Johnson afterward and charged him with violating a state law in Texas. The law prohibited the blasphemy of venerated object, including...
Words: 504 - Pages: 3
...Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989) Parties: Respondent Johnson, Petitioner Texas. Facts: Respondent participated in a demonstration at the Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas in 1984. At one point during the demonstration, a fellow protestor handed Respondent an American flag and he set it on fire. Procedural History: After trial Respondent was convicted, sentenced to a year in prison and fined $2000. Respondent appealed his conviction, but lost in the Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas. He then took his case to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Respondent’s conviction was overturned; the court maintained that Respondent could not be punished for exercising a right to free speech that is protected by the First Amendment. Issue(s): Is burning a flag an act of protected free speech? Rules: First Amendment, free speech; United States v O’Brian, the First Amendment forbids the abridgment only of “speech,” but we have long recognized that its protection does not end at the spoken or written word, “view that an apparently limitless variety of conduct can be labeled ‘speech’ whenever the person engaging in the conduct intends thereby to express and idea.”; Spencer v Washington, we have acknowledged that conduct may be “sufficiently imbued with elements of communication to fall within the scope of the First and Fourteenth Amendments.” Analysis: The court considered the First Amendment and whether its free speech protection extended to include...
Words: 359 - Pages: 2
...Texas v. Johnson Supreme Court of the Unites States, 1989 491 U.S. 397. Facts: During the 1984 Republican National Convention, Gregory Lee Johnson burned an American flag to protest the policies of the Regan Administration and certain Dallas-based corporations while protesters chanted "America, the red, white, and blue, we spit on you." Although no one was physically harmed or threatened, many bystanders were deeply offended by the demonstration. He was arrested and convicted of violating a Texas statute that prevented the desecration of a venerated object if the action were expected to rouse anger in others. He was sentenced to one year in prison and fined $2,000. The Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas affirmed the conviction; however, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed it stating he could not be punished for his actions of obvious political nature in this circumstance. The case then went to the Supreme Court to...
Words: 552 - Pages: 3
...Bradley 1. The case study references one state statute. Identify it and explain what it prohibits. “The case study of State vs. Johnson references one specific state statue, 42.09(a)(3) of the Texas Penal Code, Desecration of a Venerated Object. A person commits an offense if he/she intentionally or knowingly desecrates, a state or national flag. “Desecrate” means to deface, damage, destroy, vandalize and/or mistreat in a way that the actor knowingly will greatly offend one or more persons are like to observe or discover his/her action. This offense is a Class A misdemeanor “(Case Study Texas vs. Johnson, 2014). The statue prohibits intentionally or knowingly desecrating, destroying, damaging, burning, mistreating of a state or national flag in public that will seriously offend one or more persons and is witnessed by one or more persons. This statue was made to prohibit only flagrant acts of flag desecration that take place in a public setting or place (Case Study Texas vs. Johnson, 2014). 2. Which branch of government created the state statute? The state statue, 42.09(a)(3) of the Texas Penal Code, Desecration of a Venerated Object, was created under legislative branch. The State’s interest is to prevent a breach of peace by prohibiting certain acts of flag desecration have been considered to be unrelated to the suppression of freedom of speech, the First Amendment of the Constitution. 3. The passage above also discusses one court case. Who were the parties...
Words: 985 - Pages: 4
...Grinberg Due: December 3, 2010 Mr. Baldwin E5X-09 That Flag Should Not Be Protected The United States is known for being ‘land of the free’, a nation with a Declaration of Independence, as well, as a Constitution protecting the rights of it’s citizens. Wars have been fought and many people have died so we could have the rights that present today. The freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, and most importantly the right to petition our government; all of which fall under the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights. Our nation’s flag is an everlasting symbol of freedom and hope that stands as a testament to our nation’s power. Most importantly our flag represents the freedom of the individual to express his ideals as they see fit. Therefore when the very essence of Americans freedom is challenged by the “flag amendment,” that would forbid the desecration of the American flag, a dilemma forms. While flag burning is highly offensive, it is none the less a means of expression and is protected by the constitution of America. Forbidding an individual from expressing themselves is the opposite of what our flag represents. By protecting the American flag under a constitutional amendment not only conflicts with the First Amendment, but opens a door for the government to take away even more of our rights. The First Amendment to the United...
Words: 1320 - Pages: 6
...or not actions could be considered speech. Debate is always as intense when the action has to do with the American flag. The flag is generally considered to be a special symbol in the United States, which leaves the question, could an action that desecrates this symbol still...
Words: 1059 - Pages: 5
...religion. And right to press. In the texts “Texas v. Johnson” by William J Brennan, “American Flag Stands for Tolerance” by Ronald J. Allen and “My So Called Enemy” these explicit freedoms are shown and reflected to the very core. These freedoms are shown and reflected to the very core. The expression of difference of opinion is heavily conceived via the profound assertion of the First Amendment that is reflected by the “Texas v. Johnson” court case. And the acceptance of different cultures and different people whom are different to ourselves is seen in “My So Called Enemy”. We as human beings must be willing to acknowledge different cultures and opinions that may differ from our own and accept the fact that we as humans are one in the same. To begin with, we as human beings must be willing to acknowledge different cultures which there in, may be different from our own and accept the fact that we as humans are one in the same. Evidence of this is shown in the trailer “My So Called Enemy” when Inas, a Palestinian, looks over the fact that the girls she considers friends are Jewish. She...
Words: 518 - Pages: 3
