Johnson with a flag

Supreme Court Vote: 5 to 4

Summary of Case

"If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable. . . ."
—Justice William Brennan, speaking for the majority

Texas vs. Johnson

In 1989, Gregory Lee Johnson protested some of the policies in the Reagan Administration by burning an American flag during the Republican National Convention in Texas. Johnson was arrested and charged with the desecration of a venerated object. After appealing to the court, the court said that the state's arguments that the flag was a symbol of unity that should be recognized and that Johnson disrupted the peace were invalid. The court asked the Supreme Court to hear the case where, in a split decision, they decided Johnson's rights to expression were protected by the first amendment.