US Supreme Court ruled flag-burning protected by First Amendment

US Supreme Court ruled flag-burning protected by First Amendment

June 21, 2009 03:00:00 am

On June 21, 1989, the US Supreme Court ruled that burning the American flag in public to protest government policies is a right protected by the First Amendment. Read Texas v. Johnson.

Learn more about the legal aspects of flag desecration from the Free Speech Center.

THIS DAY @ LAW

French novelist defended Dreyfus in open letter

On January 13, 1898, the French journalist and novelist Emile Zola published an open letter entitled J'accuse in defense of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer in the French army who had been dubiously convicted of spying. Learn more about the Dreyfus Affair. Sentenced to prison for libel, Zola fled to England; he was granted amnesty and returned to France, but died of carbon monoxide poisoning before Dreyfus was exonerated.

Douglas Wilder takes office as first elected black governor

On January 13, 1990, Lawrence Douglas Wilder was sworn in as the governor of Virginia by former US Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell. Wilder was the first African-American to be elected governor of a U.S. state. He would also serve as Mayor of Richmond, the state's capital city, from 2005 through 2009. Learn more about the life and career of Douglas Wilder.