US Government: Civil Rights & Civil Liberties Supreme Court Case Project By: Meadow Noonan

Texas v. Johnson (1989) Argued: March 21, 1989 Decided: June 21, 1989

Who’s involved? Gregory Lee Johnson

What’s the story? Gregory Lee Johnson burned an American flag as a means of protest against Reagan administration policies Johnson was tried and convicted under Texas law outlawing flag discretion He was sentenced to one year in jail and assessed a $2,000 fine After the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the conviction, the case went to the Supreme Court.

Court Determined Court struck down laws prohibiting flag burning. The Court held that laws banning flag burning violated the First Amendment right to freedom of speech.

Importance The Johnson v. Texas court case is so important because Johnson should not be convicted of flag discretion because then the constitution would be contradicting itself. Our first amendment rights grant us the freedom of expression and with this, Johnson did not break any laws burning the flag.

Gonzales v. Oregon (2006) Who’s involved?

What’s the story? Attorney General John Ashcroft issued a Directive stating that a doctor could lose his federal registration to prescribe controlled substances if that registration is used to prescribe federally controlled substances for assisted suicide.

Court Determined The Ninth Circuit declared that Ashcroft overstepped his authority in issuing the directive The Justice Department petitioned the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its May decision. The Court refused a rehearing. The Justice Department petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case, the court agreed to do so

Importance The importance of the Gonzales v. Oregon case is that the CSA did not authorize Attorney General John Ashcroft to declare a medical practice authorized under state law to be illegitimate. So now the CSA did not authorize the attorney general to regulate physician-assisted suicide.