State v. Johnson, Terence

Keller, P.J.,

delivered the opinion of the Court in which Johnson, Keasler, Hervey, Alcala, and Richardson, JJ., joined.

■ Twenty-six years ago, the United States Supreme Court held that the prosecution of Gregory Lee Johnson under the Texas flag-desecration statute for .burning an American flag violated the First Amendment.1 Texas has since revised and renamed the statute, which now provides in part:

A person commits an offense if the person intentionally or knowingly damages, defaces, mutilates, or burns the flag of the United States or the State of Texas.2

We hold that the statute is invalid…