Case Brief

1. Case Name: Texas v. Johnson 2. Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397, 109 S.Ct. 2533, 105 L.Ed.2d 242, Argued in 1989. From case : Since the State of Texas conceded that the actions of burning the flag were expressive conduct, the Court had to decide whether the State's regulation of flag burning related to suppression of free speech in order to determine which standard to apply. Then the Court had to decide whether the State had an interest in regulating …

…Jr., held that: a. Johnson's action constituted expressive conduct, allowing him to raise a First Amendment claim. b. Although governments have a "freer hand" in restricting conduct" (as opposed to pure speech or writing), they still must demonstrate a sufficiently important governmental interest in regulating the activity in question. c. Texas's stated interestspreventing breaches of the peace and preserving the flag as a symbol of national unityare insufficient to prohibit Johnson's expressive conduct.