Robert Alan Jones, Individually, Etc. v. Henry Wade, Individually, Etc., and Frank Dyson, Individually, Etc.

WISDOM, Circuit Judge:

The question before us is whether a three-judge court should have been convened to decide this case, involving al*1178leged desecration of the American flag in violation of Texas law. This is a jurisdictional matter for the Court of Appeals to decide. We hold that a three-judge court, not a single judge, had jurisdiction to decide the case.

Robert Jones, defendant-appellant, was arrested for violation of the Texas flag desecration statute. Vernon’s Ann. Tex.Pen.Code Art. 152. He sued in the federal district court seeking a declaratory judgment that the statute was…