USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Gregory Lee Johnson burned an American flag outside of the convention center where the 1984 Republican National Convention was being held in Dallas, Texas. Johnson burned the flag to protest the policies of President Ronald Reagan.

Detailed explanation-2: -Court said flag burning was protected expression During the Republican National Convention in Dallas in 1984, Gregory Lee Johnson participated in a political demonstration in front of Dallas City Hall. During the demonstration, he doused an American flag with kerosene and set it on fire.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Court has recognized that the First Amendment protects certain forms of symbolic speech. Flag burning is such a form of symbolic speech. When a flag is privately owned, the owner should be able to burn it if the owner chooses, especially if this action is meant in the form of protest.

Detailed explanation-4: -The practice of flag burning as a form of political protest emerged during the Vietnam Era, prompting nearly every state in the nation to invoke little-used provisions making it a crime to ‘desecrate’ the flag.