Johnson was involved in a political demonstration in 1984 in Dallas. The protest was against the Reagan administration and various companies based in London. During the demonstration, Johnson took the State’s flag and burned it (Holzer, 2017). Johnson was taken to court for violating a Texas law that prohibited vandalizing specific respected objects. The State of Texas felt that Johnson had broken a very important law of the State that presents such kind of behavior. Later, after a court session, Johnson was convicted and sentenced to one year in prison. Besides, he was fined $2000, which he was to pay immediately.

Johnson broke the Fourteenth amendment law that states that no individual can destroy, by all methods, any object that is of great and respected status. The law is very clear as the United States and the States’ governments have an obligation to protect the property of the individuals and states from any kind of destruction. After that, Johnson went ahead and appealed the case in the Fifth Court of Appeal of Texas (Holzer, 2017). However, he lost the appeal. He decided to go to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, and his case was overturned, with the judges citing that the First Amendment protected his actions.

Texas asked the Supreme Court to listen to the case, and their call was accepted. However, most judges agreed that Johnson’s acts were constitutional thus were found not guilty (Holzer, 2017). Personally, the decision to set Johnson free was wrong and uncalled for. Such acts of hooliganism should never be tolerated in the United States. Protecting such people would only encourage others to conduct themselves in the same manner. That is why such acts have been on the increase because they know that the law protects them; hence such criminal cases should be dealt with amicably.