Freedom of association

Freedom of association

Further information: Freedom of association § United States Constitution

Although the First Amendment does not explicitly mention freedom of association, the Supreme Court ruled in NAACP v. Alabama (1958) that this freedom was protected by the amendment and that privacy of membership was an essential part of this freedom.^[201] In Roberts v. United States Jaycees (1984), the Court stated that "implicit in the right to engage in activities protected by the First Amendment" is "a corresponding right to associate with others in pursuit of a wide variety of political, social, economic, educational, religious, and cultural ends".^[202] In Roberts the Court held that associations may not exclude people for reasons unrelated to the group's expression, such as gender.^[203]

However, in Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston (1995),^[204] the Court ruled that a group may exclude people from membership if their presence would affect the group's ability to advocate a particular point of view.^[205] Likewise, in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale (2000),^[206] the Court ruled that a New Jersey law, which forced the Boy Scouts of America to admit an openly gay member, to be an unconstitutional abridgment of the Boy Scouts' right to free association.^[207]