Facts of the Case
The NAACP was prosecuted for violating a Virginia statute which banned "the improper solicitation of any legal or professional business."
Questions
Did the law, as applied to the NAACP's activities, violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments?
Conclusions
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Yes. In a 6-3 decision, the 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 Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., who authored the majority opinion. Justice John Marshall Harlan dissented, joined by Justices Potter Stewart and Tom Clark.
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