Texas v. Johnson
Storyboard Tekst
- Political Demonstration During the Republican National Convention in Dallas Texas
- Retire Ronald Reagan
- Reagan Administration
- America, the red, white, and blue, we spit on you.
- You're under arrest. You have the right to....
- America, the red, white, and blue, we spit on you.
- County Criminal Court 8, Dallas County, Texas
- That ruling is ridiculous! I would like to appeal!
- You are convicted of violating a Texas statute prohibiting desecration of the flag, and sentenced to one year in prison and fined $2,000.
- Johnson's rights listed under the First Amendment were being violated.
- Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
- Our interests are more important than his rights to symbolic speech. Texas wants to preserve the flag as a symbol of national unity and to maintain order. I want to appeal!
- The First Amendment protects freedom of speech and the burning of the flag was the activity of symbolic speech.
- We ruled that conduct was expressive if intent to convey a certain message was present, and that the message would be understood by those who viewed it. Johnson took part in a political protest, there was a message present, meaning conduct occurred.
- Supreme Court
- Johnson’s act of burning the American flag is protected by the First Amendment because it was expressive conduct.
- Discussions occurred about the amendment explicitly guaranteeing “freedom of speech.” It ruled that the protection of the First Amendment did not end at the spoken or written word. We added that conduct had elements of communication that fell into the rights listed under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
- There were no violent outbreaks when he burned the flag. Your interest does not justify criminal prosecution of a flag being burned during protest. Our final statement is “we do not consecrate the flag by punishing its desecration, for in doing so we dilute the freedom that this cherished emblem represents."
- This is the first time that the First Amendment was tested, and how it protects freedom of speech and its forms of expression. We declared that the government can’t prohibit the expression of an idea just because it is offensive or disagreeable by society.
- But our interests! The flag is a symbol of national unity, and expressive speech like what he did can lead to a change in peace.
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