Texas v. Johnson

Decided June 21, 1989. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 88-155 · 491 U.S. 397 (1989) · Cited 1,671 times

Holding

Johnson's conviction for flag desecration is inconsistent with the First Amendment.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court. Read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–4.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Spence v. Washington · 418 U.S. 405 (1974)
• United States v. O'Brien · 391 U.S. 367 (1968)
• Smith v. Goguen · 415 U.S. 566 (1974)
• Boos v. Barry · 485 U.S. 312 (1988)
• West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette · 319 U.S. 624 (1943)
• Street v. New York · 394 U.S. 576 (1969)
• Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire · 315 U.S. 568 (1942)
• Halter v. Nebraska · 205 U.S. 34 (1907)
• Brandenburg v. Ohio · 395 U.S. 444 (1969)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation · 438 U.S. 726 (1978)
• San Francisco Arts & Athletics, Inc. v. United States Olympic Committee · 483 U.S. 522 (1987)
• Schacht v. United States · 398 U.S. 58 (1970)
• Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District · 393 U.S. 503 (1969)
• Members of the City Council of Los Angeles v. Taxpayers for Vincent · 466 U.S. 789 (1984)
• Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence · 468 U.S. 288 (1984)
• Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc. · 427 U.S. 50 (1976)
• Stromberg v. California · 283 U.S. 359 (1931)
• Carey v. Brown · 447 U.S. 455 (1980)
• Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell · 485 U.S. 46 (1988)
• Brown v. Louisiana · 383 U.S. 131 (1966)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• Police Dept. of Chicago v. Mosley · 408 U.S. 92 (1972)
• Cox v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 536 (1965)
• United States Civil Service Commission v. National Ass'n of Letter Carriers · 413 U.S. 548 (1973)
• Coates v. City of Cincinnati · 402 U.S. 611 (1971)
• Terminiello v. Chicago · 337 U.S. 1 (1949)
• Frisby v. Schultz · 487 U.S. 474 (1988)
• Schenck v. United States · 249 U.S. 47 (1919)
• Whitney v. California · 274 U.S. 357 (1927)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• United States v. Eichman · 496 U.S. 310 (1990)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• McCutcheon v. Federal Election Comm'n · 572 U.S. 185 (2014)
• Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Comm'n · 584 U.S. 617 (2018)
• City of Erie v. Pap's A. M. · 529 U.S. 277 (2000)
• Virginia v. Black · 538 U.S. 343 (2003)
• Simon & Schuster, Inc. v. Members of the New York State Crime Victims Board · 502 U.S. 105 (1991)
• Bostock v. Clayton County · 590 U.S. 644 (2020)
• Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc. · 501 U.S. 560 (1991)
• Morse v. Frederick · 551 U.S. 393 (2007)
• Fulton v. Philadelphia · 593 U.S. 522 (2021)
• Matal v. Tam · 582 U.S. 218 (2017)
• Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, Inc. · 547 U.S. 47 (2006)
• McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission · 514 U.S. 334 (1995)
• Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow · 542 U.S. 1 (2004)
• Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. Reilly · 533 U.S. 525 (2001)
• Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey · 505 U.S. 833 (1992)
• Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of University of Virginia · 515 U.S. 819 (1995)
• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 512 U.S. 622 (1994)
• County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union · 492 U.S. 573 (1989)
• Waters v. Churchill · 511 U.S. 661 (1994)
• Snyder v. Phelps · 562 U.S. 443 (2011)
• City of Cincinnati v. Discovery Network, Inc. · 507 U.S. 410 (1993)
• United States v. Kokinda · 497 U.S. 720 (1990)
• Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Assn. · 564 U.S. 786 (2011)
• Dawson v. Delaware · 503 U.S. 159 (1992)
• Boy Scouts of America v. Dale · 530 U.S. 640 (2000)
• National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley · 524 U.S. 569 (1998)
• Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government PAC · 528 U.S. 377 (2000)
• Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization · 597 U.S. 215 (2022)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1989). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).