The first national convention of the Republican Party was in Dallas, Texas; the year being 1984. With the GOP elections ending, it had also been officially declared that conservative Ronald Reagan was nominated as president, preparing to serve his second term. Groups of individuals came together and organized a political protest in Dallas that voiced opposition towards Reagan’s extremely conservative administration policies and executive decisions that harmed some Dallas-based corporations.Within the crowd of riled up Americans was Gregory Lee Johnson.
As the protestors peacefully roared in disagreement, tensions escalated, and verbal communication turned into the physical form of symbolic communication. One of Johnson’s peers handed Johnson an American flag taken from a…show more content… The burning of a U.S flag in protest was safe under the First Amendment because it was a form of expressive conduct, a symbolic form of freedom of speech. It was at this moment that the interpretation of free speech is not only through the literal sense of oral speech and written words. Just because the expression of an idea is not in the best interest of the majority, or in itself offensive or disagreeable, does it give the government the right to prohibit that idea.
While many appreciate Texas v. Johnson for defining the extent of the 1st amendment, flag burning was still looked down upon. The House of Representatives aren’t apparently not big fans either. In six different scenarios, they voted in agreement on an amendment known as Flag Desecration, which basically protects the flag from being harmed. Each time this Amendment has been introduced, it has passed the House by the required two-thirds majority. Although the Amendment has never actually been enacted, it also hasn’t always terribly failed. For instance, it never accomplished the 67 votes need for the Senate to approve, but it also has never gone belwe 63 votes in support of the
