Freedom of Association

From colonial times to the information age, an exhaustive survey of one of America's most contentious constitutional rights.

Freedom of Association: Rights and Liberties under the Law chronicles the evolution of a right derived from but not granted in the First Amendment—freedom of association. An opening analysis of the Supreme Court's ruling against a gay adult member of the Boy Scouts of America illustrates the range and complexity of this issue.

Historical discussions of colonial America, including the British Parliament's efforts to suppress political associations, set the stage for a careful scrutiny of the political and legislative activities of the 1950s and 1960s when the Supreme Court established freedom of association as a constitutionally protected right. A concluding chapter delves into the contemporary issues of antidiscriminatory and campaign finance laws and explores the ever-present tension between liberty—freedom from the state—and equality—protection by the state.