IS FLAG BURNING PROTECTED BY THE FIRST AMENDMENT?
             "If a jerk burns a flag, America is not threatened. If a jerk burns a flag, democracy is not under siege. If a jerk burns a flag, freedom is not at risk and we are not threatened. My colleagues, we are offended; and to change our Constitution because someone offends us is, in itself, unconscionable,"
             It has been held by the United States Supreme Court that burning an American flag as means of expression or peaceful political protest is an act that is fully protected under the first amendment. Government does not have the power to prohibit flag burning simply because they, or anyone else, may find it offensive. However, other laws or ordinances such as arson laws or rules governing the use of fire in public places may still be applicable.
             In 1989, a man by the name of Gregory Lee Johnson was active in a political protest. When the demonstration was over, Johnson set fire to and burned the United States flag in front of the Dallas City Hall. Surrounding protesters chanted "America, the red, white, and blue, we spit on you." While watching the flag go up in flames. Katsh 128
             Johnson was arrested for violating a Texas flag desecration statute. He was convicted, sentenced, and fined. The court of appeals for the Fifth District of Texas upheld the conviction. The Texas Supreme Court of Criminal Appeals, however, reversed the decision holding that the conviction violated Johnson's rights guaranteed under the first amendment.
             When the case made it to the United States Supreme Court, it was decided that such a statute violated the first amendment, and that Johnson had indeed been wrongly convicted. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan stated that "interest in preserving the flag as a symbol of nationhood and national unity [does not] justify his criminal con
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