ABSTRACT
In United States v. Eichman, 496 US 310, the US Supreme Court reiterated its controversial decision of the year before in Texas v. Johnson, 491 US 397, upholding First Amendment protection for symbolic speech that gave individuals the right to burn American flags as a form of political protest. By a slim five-four decision, the Supreme Court held the Flag Protection Act of 1989 unconstitutional because it was a clear effort on the part of Congress to violate the right to free expression guaranteed by the First Amendment. Writing for the majority, Justice William J. Brennan Jr. maintained that despite its stated intent, the congressional language embodied in the act was specifically content-based rather than content-neutral, which called for an "exacting" level of scrutiny by the Court. Justice Brennan further insisted that denying individuals the constitutional right to desecrate the American flag diluted "the very freedom that makes this emblem so revered, and worth revering".
