]> 2026-05-04T11:25:37+00:00 Freedom of Association/Conflicts with other Rights/Other fundamental 0 en The right to associate - specifically, the right for associations to exclude people from membership for whatever reason they want - may conflict with the right not to face discrimination based on immutable characteristics such as race and gender. The US Supreme Court has decided cases where an association’s decision to exclude members conflicts with non-discrimination law. In Roberts v. US Jaycees ( [[Probable year:: 1984]]) , the court rejected the free-association claim of a male-only business organization because its association was neither “expressive” nor “intimate.” In Boy Scouts v. Dale ([[Probable year:: 2000]]) , however, the court held that the Boy Scouts of America could exclude gay members because not being able to do so would violate the organization’s right to expressive association. Free expression is critical to the practice of free association. The US Supreme Court explicitly protects “expressive” association because many associations exist to express a particular viewpoint. If a government restricts the advocacy of certain ideas, it will almost certainly restrict the activity of groups whose purpose is to express those ideas. Additionally, freedom of association depends on the free exercise of religion. As Locke wrote in A Letter Concerning Toleration, a church is a “a society of members voluntarily uniting” (Locke [[Probable year:: 1689]], 9). Religious observance often requires worship in large groups, so restricting these religious practices entails the abridgement of free association. Roberts v. US Jaycees: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/468/609 Boy Scouts of America v. Dale: https://www.oyez.org/cases/[[Probable year:: 1999]]/ 99-699 A Letter Concerning Toleration: https://socialsciences.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/locke/toleration.pdf 1689 1984 1999 2000 2337955.5 2445700.5 2451179.5 2451544.5 Are there other specific fundamental rights that tend to conflict with this right? Can you identify specific examples of this? 2022-12-28T22:09:00Z 2459942.4229167 Freedom of Association/Conflicts with other Rights/Other fundamental Page name 102 en Page name