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Texas vs Johnson case
U.S. Supreme Court, Texas v Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989)
Analyze the importance of the first amendment in the united states
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Texas vs. Johnson A very controversial court case in American history was Texas vs. Johnson (1984). In 1984, a man named Gregory Lee Johnson followed a group of anti – Reagan protesters to oppose the American exploitation of third world countries. This act of rebellion resulted in the burning of the American flag. Out of a total of approximately one hundred demonstrators who were involved in this ordeal, Johnson was solely charged with a crime. Johnson was arrested under Texas law, which made the burning of the United States or Texas flags crimes. Johnson was convicted and sentenced to one year in jail and fined two thousand dollars for his crime in restitution. Texas reasoned that the police were preventing the breach of peace; consider the flag a symbol of national unity. At Johnson's court trial, he was convicted of aiding, abetting and encouraging the burning of the Texan flag. This, in turn, made Johnson guilty under Texas state law. Johnson and his lawyers were dissatisfied with this decision and made an appeal to the Fifth Texas Supreme Judicial District. This appeal, made on May 8, 1985 would be titled as Texas vs. Johnson. The defense argued that Johnson was prosecuted in violation of the first Amendment, clearly states that no law may take away a person's freedom of speech or expression, and of the Bill of Rights and the free speech clause of the Texas Constitution. Johnson argued that in his opinion, flag burning is part of freedom o...
Facts: On November 2006 the Miami-Dade police department received an anonymous tip that the home of Joelis Jardines was been used to grow marihuana. On December 2006 two detectives along with a trained drug sniffing dog approached Jardines home. At the front door the dog signaled for drugs, as well as the detective who smelled the marihuana coming from inside. Detectives then wrote an affidavit and obtained a search warrant that confirmed the growth of marihuana in Jardine’s home. Jardines was then charged for drug trafficking. Jardines then tried to suppress all evidence and say that in theory during the drug sniffing dog was an illegal search under the 4th amendment. The trial courts then ruled to suppress all evidence, the state appellate courts then appealed and reversed, the standing concluding that there was no illegal search and the dog’s presence did not require a warrant. The Florida supreme court then reverse the appellate court’s decision and concluded that a dog sniffing a home for investigativ...
The Case of Arizona v. Hicks took place in 1986; the case was decided in 1987. It began on April 18th 1984, with a bullet that was shot through the floor in Hick’s apartment; it had injured a man in the room below him. An investigation took place. Officers were called to the scene. They entered Mr. Hicks’ apartment and discovered three weapons and a black stocking mask.
The articles "Freedom of Speech: Missouri Knights of the Ku Klux Klan v. Kansas City" and "Freedom of Religion: Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association" both engage in conflicts pertaining to the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights.
Every year there are thousands of students planning and tracking their goals. Seniors in high school are faced with the tough challenge, while the Juniors are left to worry another year. Finally, the point comes a student’s life where they must make one of the most important decisions in their educational lifetime. That choice is, which college to attend, and it is a very scrutinous process. Two of such colleges are the University of Iowa and St. Ambrose University, and although similarities like majors and minors are evident, there are many other differences including student life.
Fortas’s opinion included exceptional support and evidence behind his argument. Fortas begins his argument by expressing how the act of the students wearing armbands is protected under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment. In his opinion he says, “The District Court recognized that the wearing of an armband for the purpose of expressing certain views is
Texas prides itself on a strong heritage and history. Events that happened when Texas fought to gain independence will forever remain preserved and idolized in the heart of every true Texan. One of the most famous events that occurred during the fight for independence happened at a place that was not well-known and did not hold much importance at the time, but because of the events that occurred there, it will forever be a place of remembrance and pride. This place is known as The Alamo. This paper focuses on the articles written by Brian C. Baur, Richard R. Flores, and Paul Andrew Hutton over The Alamo.
...ts, detailed explanation, and the First Amendment to show how the policy of the armbands goes against the First Amendment. As for Justice Hugo Black, he uses facts and other case decisions to explain why the policy is permissible under the First Amendment. Yet, Justice Black does not explain, in elaborate detail, the facts included nor a strong reasoning behind why he believes the policy is allowed. While Justice Abe Fortas and Justice Hugo Black did include strong points, Justice Abe Fortas was more convincing with his argument. For Justice Abe, every point connected, and the main points introduced were further developed through the case facts, the District Court’s decision, and other case decisions. There is a fluency that Justice Fortas had, which was not present in Justice Black’s dissenting opinion. Justice Black seemed jumpy, and his organization was confusing.
The case, Kansas v. Cheever, came about after Scott D. Cheever murdered Sheriff Matthew Samuels on January 19th, 2005. Samuels was with two of his deputies at the Cooper home in a rural part of Greenwood County, Kansas to execute a warrant for Scott Cheever’s arrest when Cheever shot and killed him. After Cheever was arrested, he was charged with capital murder and attempted capital murder and was also charged with various other drug charges and criminal possession of firearms. Cheever was first on trial in federal court because it was a capital case and Kansas had just ruled Capital punishment unconstitutional and was under then under review. Cheever used a voluntary intoxication defense claiming he was so high on methamphetamines he could not have premeditated the murder. In return the court ordered a mental...
Texas v. White. Cornell University Law School Supreme Court Collection, 1850. Web. 03 Dec. 2009.
Much history came within the Texas v. Johnson case. It all started during the 1984 Republican National Convention, this is where Johnson participated in a political demonstration to protest what policies Regan was administrating (Brennan 1). A march was occurring throughout the city streets, which Johnson did take part in. Johnson burned an American flag while protesters chanted him on (Brennan 1). No person was specifically injured during this protest; although, many witnesses were severely offended (Brennan 1). Johnson was convicted of Desecration of a venerated object, which violated the Texas Statue. The state court of appeals affirmed Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and reversed the case stating it was a form of expressive conduct, so it was alright (Brennan 1). In a 5 to 4 decision the Supreme Court came to the conclusion that Johnson’s burning of the flag was protected under his First Amendment rights (Brennan 1). The court also found that although witnesses may have found it offensive, does not...
In the case Lawrence v. Texas (539 U.S. 558, 2003) which was the United States Supreme Court case the criminal prohibition of the homosexual pederasty was invalidated in Texas. The same issue has been already addressed in 1989 in the case Bowers v. Hardwick, however, the constitutional protection of sexual privacy was not found at that time. Lawrence overruled Bowers and held that sexual conduct was the right protected by the due process under the Fourteenth Amendment. The effects of the ruling were quite widespread and led to invalidation of the similar laws throughout the United States that tried to criminalize the homosexual activity of adults which were acting in privacy. The case attracted much of the public attention and quite a large number of briefs were filed in the cases.
In 1968 the United States of America was participating in a violent war that some of the general public greatly disapproved of. Tension between political parties was rising and this did not help efforts with the war. Anti-war sentiment was growing in popularity amongst the younger generation; they wanted to get their voices heard. Protest and riots were occurring more frequently and growing larger in size all throughout the United States. This was the case for a certain eight Chicago men who protested peacefully. The case that followed their arrest became known as the Chicago seven trials. Originally it was the Chicago eight until one of the members, Bobby Seale, was bound and gagged in court ordered by Judge Julius Hoffman (Rubin web). This displayed one of the many mistreatments of the members of the Chicago Seven throughout the case. The case became a highly publicized spectacle throughout the nation. In retrospect the case is noted as a great injustice and an example of abusive power in the Chicago court system at the time.
v City of St. Paul (Hudson). The R.A.V and other conspirators made and burned a cross inside the fenced yard of a black family. St. Paul charged R.A.V. using the Bias-Motivated Crime Ordinance. St. Paul’s reasoning was that this symbolic speech resonate hatred, and fear. The trial court dismissed the charge because this case was excessively broad, but the State Supreme Court reversed the decision. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled St. Paul’s Bias-Motivated Crime Ordinance was held unconstitutional because it was substantially overbroad and impermissibly content-based. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in his “the exclusion of ‘fighting words’ from the scope of the First Amendment simply means that, for purposes of that Amendment, the unprotected features of the words are, despite their verbal character, essentially a ‘non-speech’ element of communication.”
Most of the Court, according to Justice William Brennan, agreed with Johnson and held that flag burning constitutes a form of "symbolic speech" that is protected by the first amendment. The majority noted that freedom of speech protects actions that society may find very offensive, but society's outrage alone is not justification for suppressing free speech.
The strong points of this essay are that the essay had a lot of evidence to support his claim. To begin in his second paragraph he discusses how the constitution says nothing about desecrating the flag. He talks about how burning a flag is not a speech but it rather an act that takes place. The author tells us that flag burning is not speech and only words are considered speech so for there the constitution doesn’t allow the freedom to burn a flag. This was a good point he made me think twice about what is meant by the first amendment in our constitution.