Freedom Of Association Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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Freedom of association is essentially the right to interact with other people or entities without interference from the government. It is not specifically mentioned in the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution. However, the U.S. Supreme Court, in the decisions of NAACP v. Alabama (1958) and Bates v. City of Little Rock (1960), specifically recognized the freedom to associate as being related to the right to assemble and freedom of speech under the due process clause. Both of these cases involved the government’s attempts to obtain the membership lists of organizations, which the Court found interfered with the freedom of association. It must be realized that freedom of association is distinct and different from freedom of assembly. Generally, freedom of association applies to the rights of individuals to associate with other persons or entities, and freedom of assembly usually applies to the congregation of groups.

A Fundamental Right

Even though freedom of association is not listed in the Bill of Rights, it is considered a fundamental right. The U.S. Supreme Court has presented three basic definitions of a fundamental right. The first is whether the right in question is a natural right under the principles of natural law. This includes the right of self-defense as espoused by Sir William Blackstone, an eighteenth-century English legal commentator, in his Commentaries on the Laws of England. The second is whether the right in question is fundamental to American justice and implicit in the concept of ordered liberty, as recognized in the case of Duncan v. Louisiana (1968), in which an African American youth was sentenced without a jury to a term of two years in jail for assault. The third is whether the right is implied in the penumbra of the Bill of Rights, such as the right of privacy, as recognized in the case of Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) concerning access to birth control. The second meaning has been the most frequently cited by the American courts. As a practical matter, what is a fundamental right in America consists of the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, as presented in the Bill of Rights, with some exceptions under the doctrine of selective incorporation, which mandates that most of the rights listed in the Bill of Rights are fundamental and are applicable against the states as well as the federal government.

The U.S. Supreme Court, in NAACP v. Alabama (1958), found that the freedom of association is broad ranging and does not concern just public political matters. It found that the freedom of association applies, essentially, to any reason, whether it be public, private, political, economic, religious, or cultural. Moreover, in contrast to the freedom to assemble, the freedom to associate involves the right of privacy as, among other aspects, it may involve controversial matters. Thus, although the freedom of association involves political rights, it is much more.

Also of great importance, the freedom of association involves the rights of labor. The U.S. Supreme Court, in the decision of National Labor Relations Board v. Weingarten (1975), found that the freedom of association applies to labor and unions in that there is a right to associate to advance the interests of labor against management.

Limits

However, like the freedom to assemble, the freedom to associate is not absolute. As with all rights, even fundamental rights guaranteed under the Bill of Rights, the U.S. Supreme Court, in the decision of Kovacs v. Cooper (1949), recognized that limitations on the right can be imposed. But such limits must be reasonable, and as it is a fundamental right, any infringement will be examined by the courts under strict scrutiny.

These circumstances came to the forefront in the infamous Supreme Court case of Dennis v. United States (1951). Dennis was an organizer and member of the Communist Party in America and taught from various Communist books. Dennis was indicted and convicted because one of the tenants of the Communist Party was the violent overthrow of the United States. However, as stated in the vehement dissents, there was no clear and present danger. Thus, Dennis was convicted, at least in some part, based on his membership in the Communist Party. This case still raises serious questions about the freedom of association today and if it is truly a fundamental right or if it was sacrificed on the altar of political expediency. However, few would dispute that associating with groups that present a clear and present danger as to the violent and imminent overthrow of the government would not be protected under the freedom of association.

International Law

In the realm of international law, the freedom of association is not specifically mentioned in the United Nations Charter. However, it is present by implication. In articles 55 and 62 of the charter, social equality, social progress, and social problems are recognized as goals, which implies that freedom to associate is also present. Furthermore, in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in article 22, the freedom of association is specifically recognized and includes the right to unionize.

Indeed, one of the most infamous international examples of abuse of the freedom of association was in South Africa during the period of apartheid. Apartheid loosely translates as “apartness.” It refers to the principle that the white race is so superior to the black race that the two must be kept apart. In support of the enforcement of apartheid, people were banned, which means that they were not allowed to meet or communicate with more than one person at a time.

The freedom of association is an essential fundamental right that has effects throughout a person’s life and not just in the political arena. As demonstrated in South Africa with apartheid, without freedom of association, life can be so restricted that the concept of liberty becomes meaningless.

Bibliography:

Bressler, Robert. Freedom of Association. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2004.
Gutman, Amy, ed. Freedom of Association. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1998.
Shiffrin, Steve, The First Amendment: Democracy and Romance. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1990.
Smith, David, ed. Living under Apartheid. London: Allen and Urwin, 1982.