Chapter 19: Civil Liberties: First
Amendment Freedoms
Section 4
Objectives
1. Explain the Constitution’s guarantees of
assembly and petition.
2. Summarize how government can limit
the time, place, and manner of assembly.
3. Compare and contrast the freedom-ofassembly issues that arise on public
versus private property.
4. Explore how the Supreme Court has
interpreted freedom of association.
Chapter 19, Section 4
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Key Terms
• assemble: to gather with one another
• civil disobedience: the act of violating the law
in an intentional but nonviolent way to protest a
law or public policy
• content neutral: a requirement that allows the
government to regulate assemblies based on
time, place, and manner of assembly but not on
the basis of what might be said
• right of association: the right to join with others
to promote political, economic, and social
causes
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Introduction
• How has the Supreme Court ruled on
assembly and petition cases?
– In general, the Court protects the right of
peaceful assemblies and petitions.
– Governments have the right to set rules on
how, when, and where assemblies can take
place, including requiring permits.
– People do not have the right to trespass or to
assemble or petition on private property.
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Constitutional Guarantees
• The 1st Amendment guarantees the right to
peaceful assembly and to petition the
government.
• The 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause
extends these rights to citizens of every state.
• The Constitution does not protect assemblies or
petitions that endanger life, property, or public
safety.
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Examples
• Assemblies include public
demonstrations as well as
organizations such as
political parties and
interest groups.
• Petitions can include
letters, lobbying, and
advertisements.
• Peaceful marches and
parades are protected
forms of assembly.
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Civil Disobedience
• Civil disobedience involves knowingly
breaking the law in a nonviolent way to
protest a law or public policy.
• The courts have held as a general rule
that civil disobedience is not a
constitutionally protected right.
– Those who take part in civil disobedience
must accept the legal consequences of their
actions.
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Limits on Assembly
• Checkpoint: How has the Supreme Court
limited the time, place, and manner of
assembly?
– Governments can decide when, where, and how
assemblies can take place in order to keep the
public peace.
– Government rules must be specific and fairly
administered.
– Government rules must also be content neutral.
They cannot regulate gatherings based on what
might be said.
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Slide 8
Checkpoint Answer: The Supreme Court has upheld the right of governments
at all levels to set rules restricting the time, place, and manner of assembly,
but these rules must be (a) specifically worded, (b) fairly administered to
everyone seeking to assemble, and [c] content neutral.
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Public Demonstrations
• Demonstrations tend to take place in public places
such as streets, sidewalks, parks, or public
buildings.
• This can conflict with the normal use of these
facilities or streets.
• The subject of a demonstration can also lead to
public arguments.
• The Supreme Court thus allows governments to
require advance notice and permits for
demonstrations on public property.
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Gregory v. Chicago, 1969
• In 1969, a group marched from Chicago’s city
hall to the mayor’s house to protest
segregation in the city’s schools.
– A crowd of several hundred bystanders gathered
to protest against and throw objects at the
marchers.
– The police, fearing violence, arrested the
marchers for disorderly conduct when they
refused to leave.
– The Court ruled that the violent bystanders, not
the peaceful marchers, were disturbing the
peace.
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Other Court Cases
• Anti-abortion groups often hold demonstrations
to try to discourage women from going to
abortion clinics.
• The Supreme Court has ruled that judges and
state laws may impose buffer zones limiting how
close demonstrators may come to clinics.
• These measures fall within the government’s
power to limit how, when, and where assemblies
take place.
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NOTE TO TEACHERS: The second bullet deals with the Court rulings in
Madsen v. Women’s Health Services, Inc., 1994 and Hill v. Colorado, 2000.
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Private Property
• People do not have the right to assemble
or petition on private property without
permission.
– No one has the absolute constitutional right to
hand out leaflets or ask for petition signatures
in a shopping mall.
– However, the courts can rule that shopping
center owners should give permission for the
reasonable exercise of the right to petition.
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NOTE TO TEACHER: The key case on this issue is Lloyd Corporation v.
Tanner, 1972
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Private and Public Property
• The right to peacefully demonstrate on public property is
constitutionally guaranteed, yet demonstrations on
private property are not constitutionally guaranteed.
– Why has the Court ruled differently on public and private
property demonstrations?
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Answer: Privately owned places, like shopping centers, are not “places of
public assembly” and thus, no one has a constitutional right to do such things
as hand out political leaflets or ask people to sign petitions in those places.
Yet, many State constitutions encourage businesses to allow petition. In that
event, there is no violation of the property owners’ rights.
Freedom of Association
• Checkpoint: What is the right of association?
– The right to join with others to promote political,
economic, and social causes.
– It has been upheld as a constitutional right by the
Supreme Court. People cannot be fired for belonging
to associations and do not have to reveal them to
practice law.
– Associations do not have to accept members if doing
so would contradict the beliefs of the association.
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Checkpoint Answer: The constitutional right to join with others to promote
political, economic, and social causes.
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Review
• Now that you have learned how the
Supreme Court has ruled on assembly
and petition cases, go back and answer
the Chapter Essential Question.
– How can the judiciary balance individual rights
with the common good?
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