Why did Antonin Scalia join the majority in Texas v. Johnson?

In the 1989 case Texas v. Johnson, Justice Antonin Scalia joined the majority in ruling that the burning of the U.S. flag was a protected form of free speech under the First Amendment.

Although Scalia was a staunch conservative who held personal sympathy toward laws prohibiting flag desecration, his decision was rooted in his commitment to the Constitution and the protection of civil liberties as articulated in the Bill of Rights. His vote in this case serves as an example of how his judicial opinions sometimes deviated from conservative policy preferences when he believed the text of the Constitution required a specific outcome, regardless of his personal views or political ideology.1