What happened to Johnson after burning the flag?
Asked by: Isabelle Brown | Last update: March 1, 2026Score: 4.7/5 (33 votes)
In 1984, in front of the Dallas City Hall, Gregory Lee Johnson burned an American flag as a means of protest against Reagan administration policies. Johnson was tried and convicted under a Texas law outlawing flag desecration. He was sentenced to one year in jail and assessed a $2,000 fine.
Did Johnson go to jail for burning the flag?
Johnson was eventually convicted under Texas' flag desecration law, which prohibited anyone from intentionally or knowingly desecrating a flag in a way they knew would seriously offend someone else. He was sentenced to a year in jail and fined $2,000.
What was Johnson protesting when he burned the flag?
Johnson burned the flag to protest the policies of President Ronald Reagan. He was arrested and charged with violating a Texas statute that prevented the desecration of a venerated object, including the American flag, if such action were likely to incite anger in others. A Texas court tried and convicted Johnson.
Is Texas v. Johnson still relevant today?
Yes, Texas v. Johnson remains highly relevant today, establishing that flag burning is protected symbolic speech under the First Amendment, a principle still debated and tested in modern protests, social media, and ongoing legislative attempts to ban flag desecration, underscoring enduring tensions between free expression and national symbols.
Why did Johnson believe he was allowed to burn the flag?
The court first found that Johnson's burning of the flag was expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment. The court concluded that the State could not criminally sanction flag desecration in order to preserve the flag as a symbol of national unity.
Can You Burn An American Flag? | Texas v. Johnson
What's the punishment for burning the American flag?
§ 700. Desecration of the flag of the United States; penalties 713. "(a) Whoever knowingly casts contempt upon any flag of the United States by publicly mutilating, defacing, defiling, burning, or trampling upon it shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.
What was the conclusion of Texas v. Johnson?
Summary. In Texas v. Johnson, a divided Supreme Court held that burning the flag was protected expression under the First Amendment.
What impact did the case have on flag burning?
The Supreme Court addressed flag burning in the 1989 case of Texas v. Johnson. A 5-4 majority held that states cannot enact blanket bans on flag desecration because, under some circumstances, flag burning is a form of symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment.
What are the fighting words in Texas v Johnson?
Johnson (1989), the Supreme Court redefined the scope of the fighting words doctrine to mean words that are "a direct personal insult or an invitation to exchange fisticuffs." There, the Court held that the burning of a United States flag, which was considered symbolic speech, did not constitute fighting words.
What happened in Johnson v. United States?
In Johnson v. United States (2015), the Supreme Court found a part of the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), known as the "residual clause," unconstitutionally vague, striking down mandatory minimum sentences for some offenders by ruling that vague language didn't give fair notice of what conduct it punished, thus violating due process. This decision, written by Justice Scalia, invalidated the enhanced sentence Samuel Johnson received for prior felonies, impacting many similar cases by declaring the clause—which included violent felonies that "otherwise involve conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another"—too uncertain for consistent application.
Is it illegal to burn the American flag in Texas?
Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989), is a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Court held, 5–4, that burning the flag of the United States was protected speech under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as doing so counts as symbolic speech and political speech.
What was the main reason the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed Johnson's conviction for flag desecration?
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed Gregory Lee Johnson's conviction, ruling that burning the flag was symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment, as the state couldn't mandate feelings of national unity or prohibit offensive political expression, even concerning the flag. They found that Johnson's actions didn't incite a breach of peace and the state's interest in preserving the flag as a symbol didn't justify criminalizing this political expression.
What does burning the flag symbolize?
Flag desecration may be undertaken for a variety of reasons. It may be a protest against a country's foreign policy, including one's own, or the nature of the government in power there. It may be a protest against nationalism or a deliberate and symbolic insult to the people of the country represented by the flag.
What are the 5 American flag rules?
Five key American flag rules include displaying it from sunrise to sunset (or illuminated at night), ensuring it never touches the ground or anything beneath it, not using it as clothing or for advertising, keeping it clean and undamaged, and always allowing it to fly freely with the union (stars) in the upper left.
Is it a crime to disrespect the American flag?
From 1968 to 1989, burning or defacing the American flag was a criminal offense, but it was struck for violating the First Amendment. There are no longer any legal penalties for Flag Code violations.
When did it become legal to burn a U.S. flag?
On June 21, 1989, a deeply divided United States Supreme Court upheld the rights of protesters to burn the American flag in a landmark First Amendment decision. In the controversial Texas v. Johnson case, the Court voted 5-4 in favor of Gregory Lee Johnson, the protester who had burned the flag.
Is burning the flag a crime?
No. The Court has recognized that the First Amendment protects certain forms of symbolic speech. Flag burning is such a form of symbolic speech. When a flag is privately owned, the owner should be able to burn it if the owner chooses, especially if this action is meant in the form of protest.
What was Johnson's punishment for burning the flag?
In 1984, in front of the Dallas City Hall, Gregory Lee Johnson burned an American flag as a means of protest against Reagan administration policies. Johnson was tried and convicted under a Texas law outlawing flag desecration. He was sentenced to one year in jail and assessed a $2,000 fine.
What is the Chaplinsky case?
Case Summary and Outcome
The Supreme Court upheld a state law restricting “offensive, derisive, or annoying” speech in public. Walter Chaplinsky was convicted after he referred to the City Marshall of Rochester, New Hampshire as a “God damned racketeer” and “damned fascist” during a public disturbance.
Did Vietnam vets burn the flag?
In 1969, in Street v. New York, the Supreme Court overturned the state-level conviction of Vietnam veteran Sidney Street, who burned an American flag after the wounding of civil rights leader James Meredith in 1966.
How many countries is it illegal to burn their flag?
In many countries, such as Argentina, Chile, China, Cuba, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Haiti, India, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Libya, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Philippines, the Russian Federation, Spain, Sudan, Switzerland, Syria, and Taiwan, flag desecration constitutes a criminal offense either under the ...
What happened to the Flag Protection Act of 1989?
On June 11, 1990, the Supreme Court in the case of United States v. Eichman struck down the Flag Protection Act, ruling again that the government's interest in preserving the flag as a symbol does not outweigh the individual's First Amendment right to disparage that symbol through expressive conduct.
What did the Supreme Court rule in Johnson v. United States?
In the significant 2015 case, Johnson v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled that the "residual clause" of the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) was unconstitutionally vague, violating the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment because it failed to provide fair notice of what conduct qualified as a violent felony, leading to arbitrary enforcement by judges. This meant a mandatory sentence enhancement under the ACCA could not be applied based on this ambiguous clause.
How did Congress respond to the Supreme Court's ruling in Texas v. Johnson?
Congress responded to the Supreme Court's ruling in Texas v. Johnson by passing the Flag Protection Act in 1989, which aimed to prohibit flag desecration. However, this law was later struck down by the Supreme Court in United States v. Eichman, reaffirming the protection of symbolic speech under the First Amendment.
Who was the defendant in Texas v. Johnson?
Joey Johnson, a member of the Revolutionary Communist Party Youth Brigade, was the defendant in the Texas v. Johnson flag-bur…