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By Root 745 0

. . . the right of the people peaceably to assemble.”5 Simply stated, we may voluntarily gather, come together, or assemble ourselves into whatever peaceful associations we choose, and the government cannot interfere with those choices. It is worth noting that this fundamental right is worded such that it restricts government action; it does not restrict our action. As we have seen, the authors of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights believed that individuals have certain natural rights as human beings, and the government was created to protect these rights, not to violate them.

However, just because the Constitution says that we can associate with any individual we please does not mean that we may associate with any individual we please. The freedom to associate is predicated on the existence of mutual consent—each person must agree to associate with the other person. For example, when A and B agree to associate with one another, both A and B have that freedom. But if A wants to associate with B, and B does not wish to associate with A but is required to do so, then B is not legally free to reject that association with A. Rather, he is being forced to associate with A. This concept is called forced association. Forced association is completely counter to our natural rights as free individuals because it infringes upon a person’s right of free choice, and it is counter to the Constitution.

As a result, the right to associate has two components. Firstly, we are free to associate with those who accept us. This is called positive freedom of association. Secondly, we are free to abstain from associations of which we do not approve. This is called negative freedom of association. Both elements of the right are integral to the freedom as a whole, both are natural rights, and both are protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution.

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Because forced association is inherently not voluntary, it is a form of involuntary servitude strictly prohibited by the Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution which states, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” No involuntary servitude shall exist, and it is the government’s job to prevent it.

This tendency to assemble and unite with other human beings is as natural a tendency as they come. There is an internal and innate yearning to be a part of a group with a purpose, a similarity, or sometimes even a distinction. So long as the association does not cause harm to others—“an intentional physical invasion or aggression of another person’s body or rights or property”—we have every right to associate with those who want to associate with us. This fundamental right is at the very heart of liberty because it is an extension of the liberty of conscience and freedom of travel. The government must have no role outside of protecting that freedom.6 The rationale behind the theory is simple. Thomas Paine explains,

In those associations which men promiscuously form for the purpose of trade or of any concern, in which government is totally out of the question, and in which they act merely on the principles of society, we see how naturally the various parties unite; and this shows, by comparison, that governments, so far from always being the cause or means of order, are often the destruction of it.7

Where It Gets Sticky in Our Hyper-sensitive, PC World: The Right of the Individual and Private Business to Discriminate

From the very beginning, we must make a distinction between private and public entities. The rights of a private business are identical to those of an individual because a private business is a compilation of free individuals. This concept is founded on property principles and freedom.

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These private entities—both individuals and private business—have the fundamental right to associate, and alternatively, the right not to associate. Conversely, public entities—like the government—do not have this natural