Communist Organizations and Freedom of Association
The Supreme Court developed several First Amendment doctrines in cases growing out of conflict between various members of the Communist Party and federal and state officials.
Congress adopted several statutes aimed at or applicable to communists, including the Alien Registration Act, or Smith Act, of 1940; the Internal Security Act, or McCarran Internal Security Act of 1950, also known as the Subversive Activities Control Act; and the Communist Control Act of 1954.
States also adopted criminal anarchy or criminal syndicalism laws aimed at communists, particularly during and after World War I — when communists gained control of Russia in 1917, and after which they often maintained ties to the American Communist Party — and in the 1940s and 1950s during the red scare. Such statutes included loyalty oaths and registration requirements, which led to several First Amendment challenges before the Supreme Court.
Following are Supreme Court cases involving those laws.
Yates v. United States (1957) was one of the last cases involving the
prosecution of American Communists and ruled that that the First Amendment
protects advocacy of ideas.
Dennis v. United States (1951) applied the First Amendment clear and
present danger test to uphold the convictions of U.S.-based communists for
their political teachings.
Scales v. United States (1961) looked at the First Amendment right of
association and upheld the conviction of Scales for being a member of the
Communist Party.
In Schneiderman v. United States, the Supreme Court invoked First Amendment
protection of freedom of belief in deciding that the United States could
not revoke the naturalized citizenship of an immigrant because of his
communist views.
Communist Party of Indiana v. Whitcomb (1974) overturned a law requiring a
loyalty oath for party ballot access. The law violated the First Amendment
right of association.
Community Party of the United States v. Subversive Activities Control Board
(1961) revoked the Communist Party’s First Amendment freedom of association
due to national security.
In Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee v. McGrath (1951), the Court
furthered First Amendment rights of association by ruling that blacklisted
organizations could sue the attorney general.
Konigsberg v. State Bar (1961) addressed bar applicants’ First Amendment
rights after an applicant refused to answer questions about his Communist
affiliation.
Noto v. United States (1961) said that the First Amendment prohibits
convicting individuals for the mere abstract teaching of the moral
propriety of violence.
Stanford v. Texas (1965) ruled that a general warrant to seize books and
pamphlets from a person’s home was overly broad and implicated First
Amendment freedoms.
