National Association for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama ex rel. Patterson (1958)
- Docket
- 753
- Decided
- 1958-01-01
Summary
Question: Did the discovery order violate the Constitution? Conclusion: In a per curiam opinion, the Court reversed the lower court's decision and held for the NAACP. The Court held that the immunity from state scrutiny of membership lists, which the NAACP claimed on behalf of its members, was so related to the right of the members to associate freely with others so as to come within the protection of the Fourteenth Amendment. Alabama failed to show a controlling justification for the deterrent effect on the freedom to associate, which disclosure of the membership lists was likely to have.