Nat'l Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Claiborne Hardware Co., 458 U.S. 886 (1982)

See Krulewitch v. United States, 336 U. S. 440, 447-449 (concurring opinion).

Port Gibson is the county seat and largest municipality in Claiborne County.

The affected businesses represented by the merchants included four grocery stores, two hardware stores, a pharmacy, two general variety stores, a laundry, a liquor store, two car dealers, two auto parts stores, and a gas station. Many of the owners of these boycotted stores were civic leaders in Port Gibson and Claiborne County. Respondents Allen and A1 Batten were Aldermen in Port Gibson, Record 15111; Robert Vaughan, part owner and operator of one of the boycotted stores, represented Claiborne County in the Mississippi House of Representatives, id., at 15160; respondents Abraham and Hay had served on the school board, id., at 14906, 14678; respondent Hudson served on the Claiborne County Democratic Committee, id., at 840.

The complaint also named 52 banks as “attachment defendants.” The banks answered that the NAACP had $16,800 on deposit in Mississippi.

As a result of the plaintiffs’ prayer for an attachment in equity, jurisdiction existed in Chancery Court. The trial judge ruled: “It was incumbent upon this court to hear the case in full once jurisdiction was assumed. To have heard the portions of this matter sounding in equity, only, and to have transferred the questions of tort liability and damages to the circuit court would have been contrary to the maxim ‘equity delights to do complete justice, and not by halves.’” App. to Pet. for Cert. 56b. The defendants thus were denied a jury trial on the liability issues. Although the court recognized that it had power to empanel a jury, it declined to exercise its discretion to do so. Ibid. The Mississippi nonresident attachment statute that provided the basis for equitable jurisdiction has since been declared unconstitutional by both Federal District Courts in Mississippi. MPI, Inc. v. McCullough, 463 F. Supp. 887 (ND Miss. 1978); Mississippi Chem. Corp. v. Chemical Constr. Corp., 444 F. Supp. 925 (SD Miss. 1977). Commencement of trial was delayed by collateral proceedings in federal court. See Henry v. First National Bank of Clarksdale, 50 F. R. D. 251 (ND Miss. 1970), rev’d, 444 F. 2d 1300 (CA5 1971), cert. denied, 405 U. S. 1019. The District Court entered a preliminary injunction restraining the state proceedings on the theory that the merchants sought to infringe the defendants’ First Amendment rights. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the mere commencement of a private tort suit did not itself involve “state action” for purposes of 28 U. S. C. § 1343(3).

App. to Pet. for Cert. 2g. Of the original 148 named defendants, 16 were dismissed by stipulation of counsel (12 had died, 2 were minors, 1 was non compos mentis, and 1 — the Reverend Dominic Cangemi — was dismissed by agreement without explanation). One defendant was dismissed because he had been misidentified in the complaint. The chancellor dismissed one defendant — state NAACP leader Aaron Henry — because “the complainants failed to meet the burden of proof as to [his] wrongdoing.” Id., at 28b. Thus, except for the defendants dismissed by stipulation or because of misidentification, the plaintiffs prevailed on the merits in the trial court against all but one of the defendants.

Although the bulk of the court’s discussion of the defendants’ common-law tort liability focused on the presence of a civil conspiracy, the chancellor did not appear to hold that a concerted refusal to deal — without more— was actionable under the common law of Mississippi. The court apparently based its first theory of liability on the ground that the “malicious interference by the defendants with the businesses of the complainants as shown by the evidence in this case is tortious per se, and this would be true even without the element of conspiracy.” Id., at 42b (footnote omitted). In Mississippi, “[ejither an individual or a corporation, whether acting in conjunction with others, or not,” may be liable in an action for “malicious interference with a trade or calling.” Memphis Laundry-Cleaners v. Lindsey, 192 Miss. 224, 239, 5 So. 2d 227, 232 (1941). The chancellor in this case stated that the necessary element of malice is established by proof of “the intentional performance of an act harmful to another without just or lawful cause or excuse.” App. to Pet. for Cert. 42b, n. 8. The repeated references to the presence of a conspiracy might be explained by the court’s finding that each of the defendants — with the exception of Aaron Henry — was jointly and severally liable for the plaintiffs’ losses. As noted, an element of the plaintiffs’ common-law action was the defendants’ intentional performance of an “unprivileged” act harmful to another. The chancellor stated that the evidence clearly established that “certain defendants” had committed “overt acts which were injurious to the trade and business of complainants.” Id., at 39b. The court continued: “Where two or more persons conspire together, the conspiracy makes the wrongful act of each person the joint acts of them all,” id., at 41b; “[i]t *892follows that each act done in pursuance of the conspiracy by one of several conspirators is, in contemplation of the law, an act for which each is jointly and severally liable.” Ibid. Thus, the presence of a conspiracy rendered all of the “conspirators” liable for the wrongful acts of any member of that conspiracy.

See Miss. Code Ann. § 97-23-85 (1972). The chancellor found: “The testimony in the case at bar clearly shows that the principal objective of the boycott was to force the white merchants of Port Gibson and Claiborne County to bring pressure upon governing authorities to grant defendants’ demands or, in the alternative, to suffer economic ruin.” App. to Pet. for Cert. 51b. As noted, however, many of the merchants themselves were civic leaders. See n. 3, supra.

See Miss. Code Ann. §75-21-9 (1972). The court made clear that under this theory intentional participation in the concerted action rendered each defendant directly liable for all resulting damages. “As a legal principle, it is sufficient to show that the concert of action on the part of the defendants was deliberately invited, and that the defendants gave their adherence to the scheme and participated in it.” App. to Pet. for Cert. 54b. The same was true of the court’s secondary boycott theory; “since an illegal boycott is an invasion of a property right, the members of the boycotting combination are liable for the resulting damages.” Id., at 53b.

In its discussion of the secondary boycott statute, the court rejected an argument that the statute was unconstitutional under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Noting as a “basic premise” that “secondary boycotts are unlawful under both United States and Mississippi law,” the court stated that “conduct and communication which are illegal are not protected *893by the constitutional provisions relating to freedom of speech.” Id., at 46b. In imposing liability under the state restraint of trade statute, the chancellor added: “After a careful consideration of the constitutional claims of defendants, the Court finds that hone of the acts or conduct of defendants was shielded or protected by the Constitution of the United States or the Constitution of the State of Mississippi.” Id., at 55b-56b. Finally, in assessing damages, the court stated: “Defendants base their defense on the concept that the right to boycott and inflict losses on complainants was a legally protected right afforded them under the laws and Constitution of the United States. This Court has hereinbefore found that the conduct of the defendants was unlawful and unprotected.” Id., at 62b.

Id., at 19g. Following the entry of judgment, the defendants moved for relief from Mississippi’s 125-percent supersedeas bonding requirement. Although the Mississippi Supreme Court denied the motion, a federal court *894enjoined execution of the Chancery Court judgment pending appeal. Henry v. First National Bank of Clarksdale, 424 F. Supp. 633 (ND Miss. 1976), aff’d, 595 F. 2d 291 (CA5 1979), cert. denied, 444 U. S. 1074.

393 So. 2d, at 1300.

Id., at 1301.

The court did not specifically identify the evidence linking any of the defendants to such an agreement.

As noted, liability under the secondary boycott and restraint of trade statutes could be found on the basis of an entirely voluntary and nonviolent agreement to withhold patronage. See n. 9, supra. It is not clear whether — in its imposition of tort liability — the trial court rested on a theory similar to that ultimately advanced by the Mississippi Supreme Court. In finding an unlawful civil conspiracy — which rendered each conspirator liable for the actions of others, see n. 7, supra — the chancellor arguably believed that it was necessary to connect all defendants to an agreement to use force or violence to effectuate the conspiracy. See App. to Pet. for Cert. 40b-41b. The chancellor made no factual finding, however, that such an agreement existed.

393 So. 2d, at 1302.

Concerning the permanent injunction entered by the chancellor, the court stated: “Although the granting of injunction has been assigned as error, the error has not been argued, and NAACP, et al. say, at the conclusion of their brief ‘. . . the injunctive aspects of the case are now moot. . . .”’ Id., at 1293. Despite this finding, the court did not vacate the injunction.

Respondents acknowledge that “[t]he basis on which the Mississippi Supreme Court held that petitioners were liable for damages was ‘the agreed use of illegal force, violence and threats.’ ” Supplemental Brief for Respondents 1-2.

Respondents argue that anyone “who participates in the decisionmaking functions of an enterprise, with full knowledge of the tactics by which the enterprise is being conducted, manifests his assent to those tactics . . . .” Id., at 2. Respondents thus would impose liability for the managers’ failure to act; respondents argue that, despite evidence that boycott “enforcers” caused fear of injury to persons and property, “they were not taken from their posts and replaced by a system of voluntary compliance; there is no evidence that any of the petitioners even admonished them for their enforcement methods; the successful system of paramilitary enforcers on the streets and ‘rhetorical’ threats of violence by boycott leaders was left in place for the duration.” Id., at 5.

These groups are not meant to be exclusive.

“Once the pattern had been established — warnings to prospective customers, destruction of goods purchased at boycotted stores, public displays of weapons and of military discipline, denunciation of names gathered by the store-watchers, and subsequent violence against the persons and property of boycott breakers — store-watching in Port Gibson became the sort of activity from which a court could reasonably infer an intention to frighten people away from the stores.” Id., at 8.

App. to Pet. for Cert. 15b.

Id., at 10b.

Id., at 12b.

The petition stated: “We hope it will not be necessary to resort to the kind of peaceful demonstrations and selective buying campaigns which have had to be used in other communities. It takes manpower, time and energy which could be better directed at solving these problems which exist in Port Gibson and Claiborne County by mutual cooperation and efforts at tolerant understanding. “No one likes to have to resort to picketing and other kinds of demonstration — -just as no one likes to be the target of this kind of demonstration. But this sort of thing is inevitable unless there can be real progress toward giving all citizens their equal rights. There seems sometimes to be no other alternative. “Objectives of Negro citizens of Port Gibson and Claiborne County are, simply put, to have equality of opportunity, in every aspect of life, and to end the white supremacy which has pervaded community life. This im*900plies many long-range objectives such as participation in decision-making at every level of community, civic, business and political affairs.” Id., at 9b.

Id., at 13b.

Although Evers’ speech on April 1, 1966, was not recorded, the chancellor found: “Evers told his audience that they would be watched and that blacks who traded with white merchants would be answerable to him. According to Sheriff Dan McKay, who was present during the speech, Evers told the assembled black people that any ‘uncle toms’ who broke the boycott would ‘have their necks broken’ by their own people. Evers’ remarks . were directed to all 8,000-plus black residents of Claiborne County, and not merely the relatively few members of the Claiborne NAACP.” Id., at 17b-18b (footnote omitted).

Id., at 22b (emphasis in original). The chancellor also noted that MAP’s Board of Directors “did not seek help from local law-enforcement officers, nor did they complain to United States authorities for protection of their cooks from possible reprisals arising from trade with the white merchants”; and that “MAP employees in Claiborne County continued to take an active part in the NAACP activities and to support the boycott by picketing and marching.” Id., at 23b. The Mississippi Supreme Court rejected the chancellor’s findings and concluded that MAP was not a willing participant in the boycott, thus absolving it from liability.

Id., at 25b. One of the respondents awarded the most in damages, Barbara Ellis — a partner in Ellis Variety Store — testified that the store was boycotted from April 1, 1966, until January 27, 1967. On the latter date, the store agreed — apparently at the urging of a biracial committee— to hire a black cashier. Record 1183. The boycott was reimposed on April 17, 1968, after the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., but again was lifted on May 1,1968. Id., at 1184. The boycott finally was reimposed on April 19,1969, the day following the shooting of Roosevelt Jackson. Ibid.

The officers had gone to Jackson’s home to arrest him. A scuffle ensued and Jackson was shot by a white officer allegedly while being held by a black officer.

App. to Pet. for Cert. 27b.

Record 1146. The Sheriff of Claiborne County testified: “There were pickets off and on from April, 1966 to 1970.” Id., at 1060. When asked to describe “how they conducted themselves, what they did, what they went about doing,” he stated: “Most of them carried or either had signs on their shoulders and they walked up and down the streets in front of the stores. They wouldn’t always picket the same stores at the same time. At different times they might picket M&M then they would move up and picket Claiborne Hardware down Market Street to other businesses. Most of the time it was teenagers and at the last it was little bitty fellows, as young as about six years old. That was ’69 and ’70.” Ibid. The Sheriff also testified that the boycott was “tight” in April 1966, April 1968, and April 1969. Id., at 1152.

Evidence concerning the aims and practices of the “Black Hats” is contradictory. Respondents describe them as a “paramilitary organization.” Petitioner Elmo Scott, a member of the group, testified concerning instructions that were given to him: “It was given to the Deacons to give respect to the people that was on the street and, regardless of what they say back to you, for you not to use bad language to them or not to curse *904them or no kind of way, just talk to them in the right manner of way.” Id., at 2985. It is undisputed that the “Black Hats” were formed during the boycott, that members of the organization engaged in “store watching” and other “enforcement” activities, and that some individuals who belonged to the group committed acts of violence.

App. to Pet. for Cert. 19b.

Id., at 35b.

On August 22, 1966, birdshot was fired into the home of James Gilmore, a black man who ignored the boycott. He immediately grabbed a shotgun, leapt into his car, pursued the vehicle from which he believed the shots had come, forced it to the side of the road, and apprehended three young black men who were active supporters of the boycott. They were indicted, tried, and convicted, but the convictions were set aside on appeal. Whitney v. State, 205 So. 2d 284 (Miss. 1967). Gilmore continued to patronize white merchants after the incident. In June 1966, while Murriel Cullens was having a beer in Wolf’s Store, a brick was thrown through the windshield of his parked car. He had been patronizing white merchants and continued to do so thereafter. Record 14049. In November 1966, shotgun pellets were fired into the wall of his mother’s home. She had received a number of threatening telephone calls criticizing her for patronizing white stores. She continued to do so after the incident. Id., at 14003. At trial, Laura Cullens testified, in response *905to a question whether she had been scared: “No indeed. I haven’t had a bone in me scared in my life from nobody. And I have always told them, they say, ‘You’re just an uncle tom.’ And I say, ‘Well, uncle tom can be blue, black, green or purple or white. If I feel I am in the right, I stand in that right and nobody tells me what to do.’” Id., at 14017. James Bailey, who was a teenager at the time of the incident, testified that he had noticed that an elderly black lady named Willie Butler traded with a white merchant and had groceries delivered to her home. He testified that he destroyed flowers in her garden to punish her for violating the boycott. Id., at 3656. He stated that he acted on his own initiative and that Mrs. Butler continued to trade with the merchant. Id., at 3660, 3741.

Id., at 13868. One of his assailants testified that the incident resulted from an automobile accident, rather than the boycott. Id., at 3656.

“Preacher White” had died by the time of trial. No witness admitted being present at what respondents’ counsel characterized as “the spanking of Preacher White.” Id., at 3696. The Port Gibson Chief of Police testified, however, that White had come in and complained that a group of young blacks had pulled his overalls down and whipped him. Id., at 2176. In describing this incident, the chancellor stated that Preacher White “was stripped of his clothing and whipped by a group of young blacks because he refused to honor the boycott.” App. to Pet. for Cert. 37b.

In describing the “atmosphere of fear” existing during the boycott, the chancellor emphasized the participation of petitioner Rudy Shields. He stated: “Defendant Rudolph J. (Rudy) Shields, formerly of Chicago, was the principal figure in several altercations. He boasted that he was ‘the most jailed person in the Claiborne County boycott.’ This man was the acknowledged leader of the ‘Deacons.’ ” Id., at 35b. See also Supplemental Brief for Respondents 10-13. The record indicates that Shields was in Port.Gibson for approximately eight months during 1966. Record 4993.

The chancellor did find — and apparently believed this fact to be significant — that the NAACP provided attorneys to black persons arrested in connection with acts arising from the boycott. App. to Pet. for Cert. 38b. The NAACP provided legal representation to the three black persons arrested in August 1966 following the Gilmore shooting.

Although the Mississippi Supreme Court remanded for a recomputation of damages, its judgment is final for purposes of our jurisdiction. See Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn, 420 U. S. 469, 480.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” U. S. Const., Arndt. 1. First Amendment freedoms are protected by the Fourteenth Amendment from invasion by the States. Edwards v. South Carolina, 372 U. S. 229, 235.

Specifically, petitioner contended that respondent “aroused the fears of the local white residents that Negroes were coming into the area and then, exploiting the reactions and emotions so aroused, was able to secure listings and sell homes to Negroes.” 402 U. S., at 416.

One of petitioner’s officers testified at trial that he had hoped that respondent would be induced to sign the no-solicitation agreement by letting “his neighbors know what he was doing to us.” Id., at 417.

See Watts v. United States, 394 U. S. 705, 708 (“The language of the political arena, like the language used in labor disputes, see Linn v. United Plant Guard Workers of America, 383 U. S. 53, 58 (1966), is often vituperative, abusive, and inexact”). See also Cohen v. California, 403 U. S. 15; Farber, Commercial Speech and First Amendment Theory, 74 Nw. U. L. Rev. 372 (1979).

“To characterize the quality of the governmental interest which must appear, the Court has employed a variety of descriptive terms: compelling; substantial; subordinating; paramount; cogent; strong. Whatever imprecision inheres in these terms, we think it clear that a government regulation is sufficiently justified if it is within the constitutional power of the Government; if it furthers an important or substantial governmental interest; if the governmental interest is unrelated to the suppression of free expression; and if the incidental restriction on alleged First Amendment freedoms is no greater than is essential to the furtherance of that interest.” 391 U. S., at 376-377 (footnotes omitted).

In NAACP v. Alabama ex rel. Flowers, 377 U. S. 288, the Court unanimously rejected Alabama’s effort to oust the NAACP from that State. The State claimed, in part, that the NAACP was “ ‘engaged in organizing, supporting and financing an illegal boycott’ ” of Montgomery’s bus system. Id,., at 302. Writing for the Court, Justice Harlan described as “doubtful” the “assumption that an organized refusal to ride on Montgomery’s buses in protest against a policy of racial segregation might, without more, in some circumstances violate a valid state law.” Id., at 307. In Missouri v. National Organization for Women, Inc., 620 F. 2d 1301, 1317 (CA8 1980), cert. denied, 449 U. S. 842, Judge Stephenson stated that “the right to petition is of such importance that it is not an improper interference [under state tort law] even when exercised by way of a boycott.”

We need not decide in this case the extent to which a narrowly tailored statute designed to prohibit certain forms of anticompetitive conduct or certain types of secondary pressure may restrict protected First Amendment activity. No such statute is involved in this case. Nor are we presented with a boycott designed to secure aims that are themselves prohibited by a valid state law. See Hughes v. Superior Court, 339 U. S. 460.

“This Court’s duty is not limited to the elaboration of constitutional principles; we must also in proper eases review the evidence to make certain that those principles have been constitutionally applied. This is such a case, particularly since the question is one of alleged trespass across ‘the line between speech unconditionally guaranteed and speech which may *916legitimately be regulated.’ Speiser v. Randall, 357 U. S. 513, 525. In cases where that line must be drawn, the rule is that we ‘examine for ourselves the statements in issue and the circumstances under which they were made to see . . . whether they are of a character which the principles of the First Amendment, as adopted by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, protect.’ Pennekamp v. Florida, 328 U. S. 331, 335; see also One, Inc. v. Olesen, 355 U. S. 371; Sunshine Book Co. v. Summerfield, 355 U. S. 372. We must ‘make an independent examination of the whole record,’ Edwards v. South Carolina, 372 U. S. 229, 235, so as to assure ourselves that the judgment does not constitute a forbidden intrusion on the field of free expression.” New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U. S. 254, 285.

Although this is a civil lawsuit between private parties, the application of state rules of law by the Mississippi state courts in a manner alleged to restrict First Amendment freedoms constitutes “state action” under the Fourteenth Amendment. New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, supra, at 265.

See also Carroll v. Princess Anne, 393 U. S. 175, 184; Keyishian v. Board of Regents, 385 U. S. 589, 604.

See United States v. Robel, 389 U. S. 258; Elfbrandt v. Russell, 384 U. S. 11; Aptheker v. Secretary of State, 378 U. S. 500.

“Strictissimi juris.” 367 U. S., at 299.

In Rizzo v. Goode, 423 U. S. 362, the Court vacated an injunction, directed against an entire police department, that had resulted from 20 specific incidents of police misconduct. The Court held that such collective responsibility should be limited to instances in which a concerted design existed to accomplish a wrongful objective. Id., at 373-376.

Of course, the question whether an individual may be held liable for damages merely by reason of his association with others who committed unlawful acts is quite different from the question whether an individual may be held liable for unlawful conduct that he himself authorized or incited. See infra, at 925-926.

It is noteworthy that the portion of the chancellor’s opinion discussing damages begins by referring expressly to the two theories of liability that the Mississippi Supreme Court rejected: “The complainants proved, in this record, that they suffered injury to their respective businesses as the direct and proximate result of the unlawful secondary boycott and the defendants’ actions in restraining trade, all of *921which was accomplished by defendants through a conspiracy.” App. to Pet. for Cert. 57b (footnote omitted). In a footnote, the chancellor added that “any kind of boycott is unlawful if executed with force or violence or threats.” Id., at 57b, n. 21.

393 So. 2d, at 1307.

Id., at 1302 (emphasis added).

Id., at 1300 (quoting trial court; see App. to Pet. for Cert. 39b).

393 So. 2d, at 1300 (emphasis added).

The testimony of Julia Johnson — although itself only a small portion of a massive record — perhaps best illustrates this point: It is clear that losses were sustained because persons like Julia Johnson “wanted justice and equal opportunity.” Id., at 6864 (testimony of Margaret Liggins). See id., at 6737, 12419, 13543-13544.

It is also noteworthy that virtually every victim of the acts of violence found by the chancellor testified that he or she continued to patronize the white merchants. See swpra, at 904, and n. 37.

In Mine Workers v. Gibbs, 383 U. S. 715, the Court stated that if “special facts” such as those presented in Meadowmoor “appeared in an action for damages after picketing marred by violence had occurred,” they might “support the conclusion that all damages resulting from the picketing were proximately caused by its violent component or by the fear which that violence engendered.” 383 U. S., at 731-732.

As described by the Court: “Witnesses testified to more than fifty instances of windowsmashing; explosive bombs caused substantial injury to the plants of Meadowmoor and another dairy using the vendor system and to five stores; stench bombs were dropped in five stores; three trucks of vendors were wrecked, seriously injuring one driver, and another was driven into a river; a store was set on fire and in large measure ruined; two trucks of vendors were burned; a storekeeper and a truck driver were severely beaten; workers at a dairy which, like Meadowmoor, used the ven*924dor system were held with guns and severely beaten about the head while being told ‘to join the union’; carloads of men followed vendors’ trucks, threatening the drivers, and in one instance shot at the truck and driver.” 312 U. S., at 291-292.

See n. 62, supra.

For the same reasons, the permanent injunction entered by the chancellor must be dissolved. Since the boycott apparently has ended, the Mississippi Supreme Court may wish to vacate the entire injunction on the ground that it is no longer necessary; alternatively, the injunction must be modified to restrain only unlawful conduct and the persons responsible for conduct of that character.

See Record 1172. The strongest evidence of wrongdoing at the meetings was presented by petitioner Marjorie Brandon, who served at times as the local NAACP secretary. She testified that “in the meetings there were statements saying that you would be dealt with” if found trading in boycotted stores. Id., at 5637. She stated that she understood “dealt with” to mean “they would take care of you, do something to you, if you were caught going in.” Ibid. Her testimony does not disclose who made the statements, how often they were made, or that they were in any way endorsed by others at the meetings. A massive damages judgment may not be sustained on the basis of this testimony; the fact that certain anonymous persons made such statements at some point during a 7-year period is insufficient to establish that the Association itself possessed unlawful aims or that any petitioner specifically intended to further an unlawful goal.

A legal duty to “repudiate” — to disassociate oneself from the acts of another — cannot arise unless, absent the repudiation, an individual could be found liable for those acts. As our decisions in Scales, Noto, and Healy make clear, see supra, at 920, civil liability may not be imposed merely because an individual belonged to a group, some members of which committed acts of violence. The chancellor in this case made no finding that the individuals who committed those acts of violence were “agents” or “servants” of those who attended the NAACP meetings; certainly such a relationship cannot be found simply because both shared certain goals. Cf. General Building Contractors Assn. v. Pennsylvania, ante, at 391-395.

“The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic.” 249 U. S., at 52.

In Watts v. United States, 394 U. S. 705, the petitioner was convicted of willfully making a threat to take the life of the President. During a pub-*929lie rally at the Washington Monument, petitioner stated in a small discussion group: “ ‘They always holler at us to get an education. And now I have already received my draft classification as 1-A and I have got to report for my physical this Monday coming. I am not going. If they ever make me carry a rifle the first man I want to get in my sights is L. B. J.’ ” Id., at 706. This Court summarily reversed. The Court agreed with the petitioner that the statement, taken in context, was “a kind of very crude offensive method of stating a political opposition to the President.” Id., at 708.

There is evidence that Evers occasionally served as a “store watcher,” but there is no suggestion that anything improper occurred on those occasions.

See n. 69, supra.

Indeed it is noteworthy that Aaron Henry — who was president of the Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP, president of the Coahoma County Branch of the NAACP, and a member of the Board of Directors of the national NAACP — was the only defendant dismissed by the chancellor on the merits.

Cf. NAACP v. Alabama ex rel. Patterson, 357 U. S. 449; Bates v. Little Rock, 361 U. S. 516; Louisiana ex rel. Gremillion v. NAACP, 366 U. S. 293; NAACP v. Button, 371 U. S. 415; Gibson v. Florida Legislative Investigation Committee, 372 U. S. 539; NAACP v. Alabama ex rel. Flowers, 377 U. S. 288.

There is no question that Charles Evers — as its only paid representative in Mississippi — was an agent of the NAACP.

In a footnote to his discussion of the NAACP’s liability, the chancellor wrote: “Aaron E. Henry, a prominent black leader in the State of Mississippi, who was president of the Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP, president of the Coahoma County Branch of the NAACP, and a member of the Board of Directors of the national NAACP, testified that the NAACP ‘absolutely did not approve of the way the boycott was being conducted in Port Gibson.’ There is also evidence in the record tending to show that *931Evers was called to account by the national NAACP because of the manner in which the boycott was conducted. However, the NAACP took no action whatever to curb Evers’ activities in this connection.” App. to Pet. for Cert. 42b, n. 9. Henry’s testimony concerning Evers’ having been “called to account by the National NAACP” concerned Evers’ failure to make proper reports and Henry’s understanding that there was a personality clash between Evers and an executive of the NAACP. Record 4905, 4907. We have found no evidence in the record that any representative of the national NAACP was advised of any facts concerning the manner in which the Port Gibson boycott was condúeted.

The chancellor did find that the NAACP had posted bond and provided legal representation for arrested boycott violators. Since the NAACP regularly provides such assistance to indigent black persons throughout the country, this finding cannot support a determination that the national organization was aware of, and ratified, unauthorized violent conduct. Counsel for respondents does not contend otherwise.

In discussing the doctrine of criminal conspiracy, Justice Jackson noted: “The crime comes down to us wrapped in vague but unpleasant connotations. It sounds historical undertones of treachery, secret plotting and violence on a scale that menaces social stability and the security of the state *933itself. ‘Privy conspiracy’ ranks with sedition and rebellion in the Litany’s prayer for deliverance. Conspiratorial movements do indeed lie back of the political assassination, the coup d’etat, the putsch, the revolution, and seizures of power in modern times, as they have in all history.” Krulewitch v. United States, 336 U. S., at 448 (concurring opinion).

“Thg most natural privilege of man, next to the right of acting for himself, is that of combining his exertions with those of his fellow creatures and of acting in common with them. The right of association therefore appears to me almost as inalienable in its nature as the right of personal liberty. No legislator can attack it without impairing the foundations of society.” 1 A. de Tocqueville, Democracy in America 203 (P. Bradley ed. 1954).

Briefs of amici curiae urging reversal were filed by John Vanderstar, Charles S. Sims, and Phyllis N. Segal for the American Civil Liberties Union et al.; by J. Albert Woll, Laurence Gold, and George Kaufmann for the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations; and by Paul S. Berger, David Bonderman, Leonard B. Simon, and Nathan Z. Dershowitz for the American Jewish Congress.