Freedom Of Assembly

Freedom of Assembly in the United States

Freedom of Assembly in the United States

Freedom of assembly was a founding premise in the establishment of the United States. In its Declaration and Resolves of October 14, 1774, the First Continental Congress asserted that the people ‘have a right to peaceably assemble, consider of their grievances, and petition the king.’ During or immediately after the Revolution, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Vermont explicitly guaranteed the right of assembly. Similarly, the authors of the Constitution included the protection for assembly in the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution.” (1)

The freedoms of assembly and petition have been linked both in history and in Supreme Court decisions. During the first century after the Bill of Rights was ratified, the right to petition overshadowed the right to assembly, but later on they reversed roles. In fact, fewer court decisions deal with freedom of petition than any other part of the First Amendment.

Historical Background

In England, the Magna Carta of 1215 was the work of noblemen who forced King John to address their petitions for changes in his practices. Later, the English Parliament would not appropriate funds for the king unless he answered its petitions. The English Bill of Rights gave all subjects the right to petition in 1689. One of the reasons listed in the Declaration of Independence for the American Revolution is that King George III failed to hear petitions from the colonies. After the war, several of the states protected assembly and petition in their new constitutions. When the U.S. Bill of Rights was being drafted, some members of Congress argued that freedom of assembly should be deleted because it was too trivial. However, another representative maintained that without freedom of assembly, every other right in the Bill of Rights could be taken away.

Peaceable Assembly

The Supreme Court incorporated freedom of assembly to apply to the states in Dejonge v. Oregon (1937). However, the assembly must be peaceful; citizens may not riot or block public streets.

The Court held in Cox v. New Hampshire (1941) that governments may restrict the time, place, and manner of assemblies, just as with free speech, but such regulations cannot be used as a pretext to prevent free assemblies.
In Hague n CIO (1939), the Court ruled that the mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey, was using a permit system to prevent union organizing by the Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO). However, in Lloyd Corporation v. Tanner (1972), the Supreme Court held that freedom of assembly does not apply in shopping malls because they are privately owned.

Sometimes a disruptive bystander tries to stop a peaceful assembly by exercising a heckler’s veto. By provoking violence, such onlookers encourage police to end the demonstration. In Feiner v. New York (1951), the Supreme Court upheld the actions of police to end an inflammatory speech by Feiner, which the Court regarded as an incitement to riot. But in Gregory v. Chicago (1969), the Court set aside the conviction of comedian Dick Gregory for disorderly conduct during a civil rights march in an all-white neighborhood. The Court ruled that the police should have done more to protect the marchers.

Resources

Notes and References

Guide to Freedom of Assembly


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