right to assemble
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states: “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” See: Amendment 1 Annotated: Doctrine on Freedoms of Assembly and Petition, and United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U.S. 542 (1875).
Right to assemble is the freedom to peacefully gather and collectively associate with other people in public for any reason without government interference. Under First Amendment protections, the state or federal government cannot pass laws that hinder peaceful assembly, regardless of the reasoning for assembly. For example, people can freely join unions or political parties under this right as established in Thomas v. Collins, 323 U.S. 516 (1945). Furthermore, individuals’ membership to political groups or organizations, like the NAACP, do not need to be disclosed according to NAACP v. Patterson, 360 U.S. 240 (1958).
The Supreme Court applied the right to assembly to state governments through the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause in DeJonge v. Oregon, 299 U.S. 353 (1937). In De Jonge, the defendant was arrested under Oregon’s criminal syndicalism law for organizing a meeting on behalf of the Communist Party. The Court held that, “peaceable assembly for lawful discussion cannot be made a crime.”
The right to assemble is one of the key protections of the First Amendment and is often associated with the right to protest, although the right to assemble is specific to people gathering. Similar to freedom of speech and expression, the assembly, under the right to assemble, must be peaceful. Organizers cannot intend to incite violence or cause public disorder. See: unlawful assembly, and Cox v. New Hampshire, 312 U.S. 569 (1941).
[Last reviewed in April of 2026 by the Wex Definitions Team]
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