Court Cases Dealing with Assembly/Petition

James Haigh

History of Assembly/Petition Cases Established by Cox v. New Hampshire, 312 U.S.

569 (1941) While the Constitution protects the right to

assemble, it adds an important caveat-the assembly must be peaceful

the Supreme Court has ruled that reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions might be imposed on the right to assemble

History of Assembly/Petition Cases Cont.

there are no Supreme Court cases that precisely define the contours of this provision of the First Amendment

it is the Government's job to redress the legitimate grievances of its citizens

The judiciary reviews grievances whenever it determines that constitutional or other legal rights have been infringed upon

Background of Boy Scouts v. Dale 2000 An assistant Scoutmaster in a local boy scout

troop in New Jersey was openly gay and the organization removed him of his duties for this reason

He sued and went to court and got the New Jersey Supreme Court to rule in his favor requiring the troop to reinstate him of his duties

The case was taken to the Supreme court in 2000 where they would review the ruling

Summary Case is based on private groups ability to dictate

who can be a member based on their sexual orientation

Dale sued saying they violated a state rule of no discrimination because of sexual orientation

Supreme Court ruled in the Boy scout's favor as long as he was hurting the organizations ability to demonstrate what they believe in as a group

Decision Ruling: "the presence of that person affects in

a significant way the group's ability to advocate public or private viewpoints”

It was a 5 to 4 decision to overturn the New Jersey supreme court

Ruled that opposition to homosexuality is part of BSA's "expressive message" and that allowing homosexuals as adult leaders would interfere with that message

Consequences The decision allowed the Scout local Boy to

remove James Dale from his position as Assistance Scoutmaster

This set a precedent giving private organizations the opportunity to keep remove people if they affect the ability of the group to advocate their viewpoint

This ruling is still discussed today because people claim they should shut down the boy scouts because they limit their first amendment rights

Background of Edwards v. South Carolina 1963 A group of 187 petitioners marched peacefully

in south Carolina State Court House grounds in protest of segregation

They were arrested after refusing to disperse on charges of breach of peace

South Carolina Supreme Court ruled to convict them of the charges and then the case was tried in The U.S. Supreme Court under the Warren Court

Summary South Carolina Supreme Court upheld the

convictions, described as "not susceptible of exact definition”

The Supreme Court ruled the evidence did not even remotely prove that their actions were violent

They ruled in favor of the Petitioners because it violated their first amendment rights

Decisions The Supreme Court held that in arresting the

petitioners, South Carolina infringed on the petitioners’ rights of free speech, free assembly and freedom to petition

Stewart called the marchers' actions an exercise of First Amendment rights "in their most pristine and classic form“

Ruled a state cannot "make criminal the peaceful expression of unpopular views"

Consequences Justice Edwards dissented and claimed that the

City Manager’s actions were to avoid confrontation because of the atmosphere of southern communities at the time

This also helped the Warren Court establish that they were going to be an active court

Also helped African Americans establish their rights in the southern states

Citation Page http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/99-699.ZS.html http://www.oyez.org/cases/1960-1969/1962/1962_86 http://

www.uscourts.gov/EducationalResources/ClassroomActivities/FirstAmendment/FreedomOfAssembly/Background.aspx

http://www.uscourts.gov/EducationalResources/ClassroomActivities/FirstAmendment/FreedomOfPetition.aspx