Street Law, Inc. and The Supreme Court Historical Society present

Landmark Cases of the U.S. Supreme Court

Street Law /

Forms of Political Protest

  1. Why do people protest?
    Gregory Lee Johnson burned the American flag as part of a political protest. Why was he protesting? What do other people protest?
  2. How do people protest?
    List as many methods of protest as you can.
  3. Which methods of protest are legal and which are illegal?
    Take the methods listed in #2 and list them in the appropriate columns below.

Legal Methods of Protest Illegal Methods of Protest
  1. -
  2. -
  3. -
  4. -
  5. -
  1. -
  2. -
  3. -
  4. -
  5. -

Your teacher will go over the answers.

Conclusion

If we live in a free country with free speech, why are some of these forms of protest illegal? How does the government determine which forms of protest are illegal?

<Texas v. Johnson