Texas v. Johnson
Citation and Court
491 U.S. 397 (1989). United States Supreme Court. Justice Brennan, writing for the Court (5-4).
Facts
Gregory Lee Johnson burned an American flag outside Dallas City Hall during the 1984 Republican National Convention to protest Reagan administration policies. He was convicted under a Texas law prohibiting desecration of a venerated object. No one was physically harmed, though many onlookers were deeply offended. Johnson was sentenced to one year in prison and fined $2,000. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Issue
Does the First Amendment protect the burning of the American flag as a form of symbolic political speech?
Holding
Yes. Flag burning is expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment. Texas’s interest in preserving the flag as a symbol of nationhood and national unity was insufficient to justify prohibiting this form of political expression.
Rule / Doctrine
Symbolic Speech and Content-Based Restriction: The First Amendment protects expressive conduct (symbolic speech) as well as pure speech. When the government suppresses expression because of its message — particularly because the message is offensive — that restriction is presumptively unconstitutional. Government cannot prohibit expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea disagreeable or offensive. The O’Brien test (for content-neutral restrictions on expressive conduct) does not apply when the government’s purpose is specifically to suppress a message.
Significance
Texas v. Johnson is the defining symbolic speech case and one of the most controversial First Amendment decisions of the twentieth century. Congress twice attempted to override it (the Flag Protection Act of 1989), but the Court struck down federal flag-protection legislation the following year in United States v. Eichman (1990). The case stands for the fundamental principle that freedom of expression protects speech we hate, not just speech we like — the First Amendment’s core guarantee.