stylistic:tone
Opinion of the Court

The Court rejected that Johnson was liable for a breach of the peace, writing that, "no disturbance of the peace actually occurred or threatened to occur because Johnson burned the flag." While the state of Texas argued that flag burning is punishable on the basis that it "tends to incite" breaches of the peace, the Court disagreed, finding that flag burning does not necessarily lead to breaches of the peace. Citing Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), Brennan wrote that the state may only punish speech that would incite "imminent lawless action", and rejected that flag burning constituted such.