Halter v. Nebraska (1907) upheld a state law that prohibited the use of the
American flag in advertising. Modern flag desecration is protected by the
First Amendment.
In Smith v. Goguen (1974), the Supreme Court said a Massachusetts law that
criminalized contemptuous treatment of the American flag violated the First
Amendment.
In Spence v. Washington (1974), the Supreme Court held that the First
Amendment protects the right to desecrate the American flag as a form of
symbolic protest.
Street v. New York (1969) ruled in a flag-burning case by citing the First
Amendment’s protection of “words” but side-stepped the controversial
“action” of flag-burning.
Texas v. Johnson (1989) struck down on First Amendment grounds a flag
desecration law. The has decision served as the crux of the debate about
burning of the U.S. flag in protest.
United States v. Eichman (1990) said the Flag Protection Act of 1989, which
banned desecrating an American flag, violated First Amendment freedom of
expression.
