The 1989 U.S. Supreme Court case of Texas v. Johnson invalidated prohibitions on desecrating the American flag that had been in force in forty-eight states. The controversial case began when Gregory Lee Johnson joined in a political demonstration during the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas, and burned a flag. He was eventually convicted of violating a Texas law that prohibits vandalizing respected objects. His conviction was later overturned, whereupon the state of Texas appealed to the Supreme Court. Justice William J. Brennan wrote for a five-justice majority in holding that Johnson’s act of flag burning was protected speech under the First Amendment, saying that “the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.” William Rehnquist (joined by Byron White and Sandra Day O’Connor) and John P. Stevens wrote dissenting opinions.