Background
Summary and Questions
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Gregory Lee Johnson
participated in a political demonstration during the
Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas, in 1984. The
demonstrators were protesting the policies of the Reagan
Administration and of certain companies based in Dallas. They
marched through the streets, shouted slogans, and held
protests outside the offices of several companies. At one
point, another demonstrator handed Johnson an American
flag.
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 "America, the
red, white, and blue, we spit on you." No one was hurt, but
some witnesses to the flag burning said they were extremely
offended. One witness picked up the flag's burned remains and
buried them in his backyard.
Johnson was charged with violating the Texas law that
prohibits vandalizing respected objects. He was convicted,
sentenced to one year in prison, and fined $2,000. He
appealed his conviction to the Court of Appeals for
the Fifth District of Texas, but he lost this appeal.
He then took his case to the Texas Court of Criminal
Appeals, which is the highest court in Texas that hears
criminal cases. 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 had said that its interests were more important
than Johnson's symbolic speech rights because it wanted
to preserve the flag as a symbol of national unity,
and because it wanted to maintain order. The court said
neither of these state interests could be used to justify
Johnson's conviction.
The court said, "Recognizing that
the right to differ is the centerpiece of our First Amendment
freedoms, a government cannot mandate by fiat a feeling of
unity in its citizens. Therefore that very same government
cannot carve out a symbol of unity and prescribe a set of
approved messages to be associated with that symbol . . ." The
court also concluded that the flag burning in this case did
not cause or threaten to cause a breach of the
peace.
The State of Texas asked the Supreme Court of
the United States to hear the case. In 1989, the Court handed
down its decision.
Questions to Consider:
- Read the First Amendment to
the U.S. Constitution. What part of the Amendment is relevant
to this case?
- What do you think is meant by "symbolic speech"? What
are some other examples?
- What argument could you make that flag burning is likely
to cause violence and therefore should be against the
law?
- What argument could you make that flag burning is
symbolic speech that should be protected by the First
Amendment?
- How should the Supreme Court of the United States decide
this case? Why?
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