Gibson v. Florida Legislative Investigation Committee - Significance, Investigating Suspected Communists, Strengthening The Individual Freedom Of Association, Justifying The Legislative Power Of Investigation

court petitioner justices colored

Petitioner

Theodore R. Gibson

Respondent

Florida Legislative Investigation Committee

Petitioner's Claim

That requiring the Miami branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to use its membership list during investigative hearings to determine if its membership included alleged Communists violated the members' constitutional right to freedom of association.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner

Robert L. Carter

Chief Lawyer for Respondent

Mark R. Hawes

Justices for the Court

Hugo Lafayette Black, William J. Brennan, Jr., William O. Douglas, Arthur Goldberg (writing for the Court), Earl Warren

Justices Dissenting

Tom C. Clark, John Marshall Harlan II, Potter Stewart, Byron R. White

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

25 March 1963

Decision

Upheld the petitioner's claim and reversed the Supreme Court of Florida's affirmance of the trial court's judgment of contempt.

Related Cases

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama, 357 U.S. 449 (1958).
Gibson v. Florida Legislative Investigative Committee, 108 So.2d 729 (Fla. 1959).
Uphaus v. Wyman, 360 U.S. 72 (1959).
Bates v. City of Little Rock, 361 U.S. 516 (1960).
Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976).

Gibson v. Florida Legislative Investigation Committee - Investigating Suspected Communists

In the wake of World War II, the alliance between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics eroded as the Soviet Union engaged in military and political campaigns to extend its influence in Asia and Eastern Europe. This led to a resurrection of anti-Communist sentiment in the United States and the onset of the Cold War. Federal authorities waged this war in the United States du…

Gibson v. Florida Legislative Investigation Committee - Strengthening The Individual Freedom Of Association

The U.S. Supreme Court reversed with a 5-4 vote. Writing for the majority, Justice Goldberg began by noting that the freedom of speech and the related freedom of association guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments are "fundamental and highly prized, and need breathing space to survive." Compelled disclosure of membership in a legitimate organization may effectively restrain exercise of t…

Gibson v. Florida Legislative Investigation Committee - Justifying The Legislative Power Of Investigation

Justice Harlan wrote a dissenting opinion joined by Justices Clark, Stewart, and White. He noted that government evidence in Smith Act prosecutions showed that race relations were a prime target of Communist infiltration efforts. Despite this, the majority opinion seemed to create a distinction between legislative power to investigate Communist infiltration of organizations and Communist activity …

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