Short Case Summary
In 1984, Gregory Johnson participated in a political rally during the Republican National Convention, which was held in Dallas that year. He and other protesters distributed literature and made speeches denouncing President Reagan's "War Chest" policies. The crowd marched through the streets and staged "die-ins" on the grounds of several corporations known to support the Reagan administration.
The tour concluded in front of Dallas City Hall, where Johnson unfurled an American flag, doused it with kerosene and set it on fire while the crowd chanted, "America, the red, white, and blue, we spit on you."
Johnson was subsequently arrested and convicted under a Texas law that prohibited intentionally and knowingly desecrating a state or national flag, fined $2,000, and sentenced to one year in jail.
Johnson appealed his case to the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, which reversed the lower court ruling on the grounds that Johnson could not be punished for expressive conduct protected under the First Amendment. The Court concluded that the State could not sanction flag burning in order to preserve the flag as a symbol of national unity.
In a 5-4 vote, the US Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Criminal Appeals' verdict. Justice William Brennan delivered the majority opinion.
Supreme Court Reasoning
Case Citation:
Texas v. Johnson, 491 US 397 (1989)
For more information on Texas v. Johnson and flag desecration, see Related Questions, below.
Texas v. Johnson was an appeal by the state of Texas to have an overturned conviction reinstated. The overturning was upheld by the Supreme Court by a 5-4 majority maintaining, consistent with the decisions of previous cases such as Stromberg and Tinker, that "free speech" was not limited to the spoken word.
Background
During a protest march, a US flag had been obtained from the building of a company targeted by the protest. It was handed to Gregory Lee Johnson. Upon reaching Dallas City Hall, Johnson poured kerosene on the flag and lit it.
Previous Judgments
He was arrested and charged under a Texas law that prohibited vandalizing a respected object (as the flag is). His conviction meant a $2000 fine and one year in prison.
He appealed to the Fifth Court of Appeals for Texas, but lost this appeal.
He then appealed this judgment to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, and won this appeal: the Court's judgment was based on the First Amendment right to free speech. The state then made its appeal to the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court Judgment
The Supreme Court upheld the second appeal's decision. Johnson had a right to burn the flag as a political statement, and the state's interest in "maintaining order and union, and respect for the flag" was not good enough to convict him. The Court declared the law unconstitutional. This also affected laws in 47 other states at the time, all of which were now unenforceable.
Case Citation:
Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989)
The decision in Texas v. Johnson didn't have a significant impact on society, other than (generally) making flag desecration a legally accepted expression of civil disobedience no longer punishable by statute, and establishing another point of contention between increasingly polarized conservative and progressive political factions.
Those opposed to flag desecration pressed Congress to take action by passing the Flag Protection Act of 1989, a federal law legislated in defiance of the Texas v. Johnson, (1989) ruling. This law was subsequently overturned in the Supreme Court case United States v. Eichman, 496 US 310 (1990).
Flag burning remains a relatively infrequent form of political protest, but the battle between protecting the flag as a national symbol and protecting freedom of expression granted in the Bill of Rights is ongoing.
In February 2009, a Sarpy County, Nebraska, judge denied a Kansas woman the opportunity to challenge Nebraska's anti-desecration law, which remains on the books despite the US Supreme Court ruling.
Case Citation:
Texas v. Johnson, 491 US 397 (1989)
For more information on Texas v. Johnson, (1989) and other Supreme Court flag-desecration cases, see Related Links, below.
Would the supreme court have jurisdiction if Johnson burned a texas flag in the case of Texas vs. Johnson?
Texas vs Johnson
Supreme Court
Previous Judicial Decisions
A majority opinion is the legal document that explains the legal reasoning behind a Supreme Court decision.
No. The decisions of the Texas Supreme Court are binding on trial courts in Texas. That is why it is called the Supreme Court.
Would the supreme court have jurisdiction if Johnson burned a texas flag in the case of Texas vs. Johnson?
Technically no, only the 5th circuit court.
Texas v. Johnson, 491 US 397 (1989) was in litigation for five years, gradually moving from municipal court to the US Supreme Court. Johnson was arrested in August 1984 and the US Supreme Court affirmed the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals' (Texas high court for criminal cases) reversal in June 1989, just a bit less than five years later.1984 Convicted: Dallas County Criminal Court, fined $2,000 and sentenced to 1 year in jail1986 Affirmed: The Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas, Dallas 706 S.W.2d 120 (1986)1988 Reversed: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed, 755 S.W.2d 92 (1988)1989 Affirmed: Supreme Court of the United States.
No, only trial decisions can be appealed.
Texas vs Johnson
Roe v. Wade and Texas v. Johnson, two unrelated cases originating in the Dallas, Texas, were filed in different jurisdictions:Roe v. Wade, 410 US 113, (1973) was originally filed in federal court, in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas.Texas v. Johnson, 491 US 397 (1989) was originally filed in Dallas County Criminal Court.
A. It defined and extended individual liberties.
US Supreme Court opinions (decisions) set binding precedents because all lower courts are required to follow the same reasoning when deciding similar cases under the doctrine of stare decisis (Latin: Let the decision stand).
They are called precedents. If the decision was made by a court with jurisdiction over a lower court, they are called binding precedents because the lower court is required to apply the same reasoning in similar cases under the doctrine of stare decisis.
"Persuasive precedents" are decisions that are not binding on a court hearing a similar case, but which contain compelling legal reasoning or logic that the court finds convincing (persuasive) enough to apply to the case at bar. For example, a US District Court judge may agree with a decision made in a comparable state court case, adopt the reasoning, and cite the first case in the opinion of the second case. Only appellate courts with jurisdiction over a lower court may creating binding precedents (decisions that must be followed); a court may choose to follow a non-binding precedent that doesn't conflict with a binding precedent or law. These are commonly referred to as "persuasive precedents."
All court decisions are binding unless overturned by a higher court.