NAACP v. Button

Media Items
Oral Argument
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Oral Reargument
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Advocates
Robert L. Carter (Argued the cause for the petitioner)
Henry T. Wickham (Argued the cause for the respondent)
Case Basics
Docket No.: 
5
Petitioner: 
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Respondent: 
Button
Decided By: 
Warren Court (1962-1965)
Opinion: 
371 U.S. 415 (1963)
Categories: 
federal courts, jurisdiction, freedom of association, freedom of speech, first amendment

Cite this page
The Oyez Project, NAACP v. Button , 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
available at: (http://oyez.org/cases/1960-1969/1961/1961_5)
Facts of the Case: 

The NAACP was prosecuted for violating a Virginia statute which banned "the improper solicitation of any legal or professional business."

Question: 

Did the law, as applied to the NAACP's activities, violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments?

Conclusion: 

Yes. The unanimous Court held that the activities of the NAACP amounted to "modes of expression and association protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments which Virginia may not prohibit." NAACP initiated litigation was "a form of political expression" and not "a technique of resolving private differences," argued Brennan.

Decisions

Decision: 6 votes for NAACP, 3 vote(s) against
Legal provision: Amendment 1: Speech, Press, and Assembly

Sort by Ideology

Voted with the majority
Warren
Voted with the majority
Black
Wrote a regular concurrence
Douglas
Voted with the minority, joined Harlan's dissent
Clark
Wrote a dissent
Harlan
Wrote the majority opinion
Brennan
Voted with the minority, joined Harlan's dissent
Stewart
Wrote a special concurrence
White
Voted with the majority
Goldberg

Full Opinion by Justice William J. Brennan, Jr.