Reference no: EM131337810

A man protests on a street corner in Dallas, Texas, by burning the American flag. He is arrested on the grounds that he violated a state statute that prohibited the desecration of a state or national flag. The U.S. Supreme Court held that the state statute is unconstitutional as it violates the First Amendment's right to free speech. The U.S. Congress is incensed by the Court's ruling and passes the Flag Protection Act of 1989, which made it a criminal act when a person knowingly "mutilates, defaces, physically defiles, burns, maintains upon the floor or ground, or tramples upon" a flag of the United States. United States v. Eichman, 496 U.S. 310, 313 (1990). Compare Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397, 109 S. Ct. 2533, 105 L. Ed. 2d 342 (1989) and United States v. Eichman, 496 U.S.

310, 110 S. Ct. 2404, 110 L. Ed. 2d 287 (1990), both of which dealt with the flag-burning issue. Contrast the facts of both cases. What is the significant difference in the cases? What were the holdings of the U.S. Supreme Court? Are these holdings different? Can they be reconciled?