opinion in Texas v. Johnson

E31051

United States Supreme Court majority opinion judicial opinion

The opinion in Texas v. Johnson is the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that held flag burning is protected speech under the First Amendment.

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All labels observed (4)

Label	Occurrences
Texas v. Johnson	5
Texas v. Johnson (U.S. Supreme Court case)	1
Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989)	1
opinion in Texas v. Johnson canonical	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T243093 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: opinion in Texas v. Johnson
Context triple: [William J. Brennan Jr., notableWork, opinion in Texas v. Johnson]

A. Employment Division v. Smith
Employment Division v. Smith is a landmark 1990 U.S. Supreme Court decision that significantly narrowed protections for religious practices under the Free Exercise Clause by upholding the enforcement of neutral, generally applicable laws even when they incidentally burden religion.
B. South Dakota v. Dole
South Dakota v. Dole is a 1987 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld Congress’s power to condition federal highway funds on states adopting a minimum drinking age of 21, helping define the scope of the federal spending power.
C. United States v. Lopez
United States v. Lopez is a 1995 U.S. Supreme Court case that marked the first time in decades the Court struck down a federal law for exceeding Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause, signaling a revival of limits on federal regulatory authority.
D. Printz v. United States
Printz v. United States is a 1997 U.S. Supreme Court decision that limited federal power by holding that Congress cannot compel state or local officials to implement federal regulatory programs.
E. DeBoer v. Snyder
DeBoer v. Snyder was a federal court case challenging Michigan’s same-sex marriage ban that became one of the key cases consolidated into the landmark Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: opinion in Texas v. Johnson
Target entity description: The opinion in Texas v. Johnson is the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that held flag burning is protected speech under the First Amendment.

A. Employment Division v. Smith
Employment Division v. Smith is a landmark 1990 U.S. Supreme Court decision that significantly narrowed protections for religious practices under the Free Exercise Clause by upholding the enforcement of neutral, generally applicable laws even when they incidentally burden religion.
B. South Dakota v. Dole
South Dakota v. Dole is a 1987 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld Congress’s power to condition federal highway funds on states adopting a minimum drinking age of 21, helping define the scope of the federal spending power.
C. United States v. Lopez
United States v. Lopez is a 1995 U.S. Supreme Court case that marked the first time in decades the Court struck down a federal law for exceeding Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause, signaling a revival of limits on federal regulatory authority.
D. Printz v. United States
Printz v. United States is a 1997 U.S. Supreme Court decision that limited federal power by holding that Congress cannot compel state or local officials to implement federal regulatory programs.
E. DeBoer v. Snyder
DeBoer v. Snyder was a federal court case challenging Michigan’s same-sex marriage ban that became one of the key cases consolidated into the landmark Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States Supreme Court majority opinion ⓘ judicial opinion ⓘ
appliedTo	Texas flag desecration statute ⓘ
category	United States Supreme Court cases of the Rehnquist Court ⓘ United States Supreme Court cases on freedom of speech ⓘ
characteristic	controversial free speech ruling ⓘ landmark First Amendment decision ⓘ
chiefJusticeAtTime	William H. Rehnquist ⓘ
citation	491 U.S. 397 ⓘ
conclusion	the state may not criminalize flag desecration based on the message it conveys ⓘ
constitutionalProvisionInterpreted	First Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ
country	United States of America ⓘ
court	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
decisionDate	1989-06-21 ⓘ
dissentingJustices	Byron R. White ⓘ John Paul Stevens ⓘ Sandra Day O’Connor ⓘ William H. Rehnquist ⓘ
docketNumber	No. 88-155 ⓘ
holding	Burning the American flag in political protest is expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment ⓘ The government may not prohibit expression simply because society finds the idea offensive or disagreeable ⓘ
joinedBy	Anthony M. Kennedy ⓘ Antonin Scalia ⓘ Harry A. Blackmun ⓘ Thurgood Marshall ⓘ
jurisdiction	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
legalIssue	whether flag burning as political protest is protected speech ⓘ whether the state’s interest in preserving the flag as a symbol justifies criminalizing its desecration ⓘ
locationOfOralArgument	Supreme Court of the United States Building, Washington, D.C. ⓘ linked to: Supreme Court Building
lowerCourt	Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ⓘ
lowerCourtDisposition	affirmed judgment of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ⓘ
majorityAuthor	William J. Brennan Jr. ⓘ
partOf	case Texas v. Johnson ⓘ
party	Gregory Lee Johnson ⓘ State of Texas ⓘ linked to: Texas
precedentFor	United States v. Eichman ⓘ
recognizes	flag burning as expressive conduct ⓘ
rejectsGovernmentInterest	preserving the flag as a symbol of nationhood and national unity as a basis for suppressing expression ⓘ
result	conviction of Gregory Lee Johnson reversed ⓘ
standardApplied	strict scrutiny for content-based restrictions on expression ⓘ
statuteHeldUnconstitutional	Texas law prohibiting desecration of a venerated object ⓘ
subjectMatter	First Amendment jurisprudence ⓘ flag desecration ⓘ freedom of speech ⓘ symbolic speech ⓘ
term	1988 Term of the Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
vote	5–4 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (8)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

William J. Brennan Jr. → notableWork → opinion in Texas v. Johnson ⓘ

subject linked to: William J. Brennan Jr. (by designation: not; remove if inaccurate)

First Amendment to the United States Constitution → hasLandmarkCase → Texas v. Johnson ⓘ