Editing Freedom of assembly (section)

{{Use American English|date = March 2019}}
{{Short description|Right to form social or political groups and hold meetings}}
[[File:Themeeting.jpg|thumb|"Sammankomsten" ("The Meeting"), oil painting by [[Ester Almqvist]], original at the [[Swedish National Museum]]. The painting was chosen by the [[United Nations|UN]] as a motif for a stamp commemorating the establishment of the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]], paragraph 20: the Right of Assembly.]]
[[File:Janitor strike santa monica.jpg|thumb|[[Janitor]]ial workers striking in front of the [[MTV]] building in [[Santa Monica, California|Santa Monica]], [[California]]. Although striking in a [[trade union]] is a way of exercising freedom of assembly and freedom of association, other aspects of the conduct of the workers depicted here, such as pedestrian blocking of vehicle traffic in whichever direction has the [[Right-of-way (traffic)#Intersections|right of way]] at this signal-controlled intersection, may violate local or state laws such as California Vehicle Code § 21950(b).<ref>[https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=VEH&division=11.&title=&part=&chapter=5.&article= California Vehicle Code § 21950(b)]: "No pedestrian may unnecessarily stop or delay traffic while in a marked or unmarked crosswalk."</ref>]]
[[File:Occupy Oakland Nov 12 2011 PM 57.jpg|thumb|Posted excerpt from the [[US Constitution]], at an [[Occupy Oakland]] event, 2011]]
{{Liberalism sidebar}}
{{United States constitutional law}}

'''Freedom of assembly''', sometimes used interchangeably with the [[freedom of association]], is the [[right|individual right or ability]] of individuals to peaceably assemble and collectively express, promote, pursue, and defend their ideas.<ref>Jeremy McBride, Freedom of Association, in The Essentials of... Human Rights, Hodder Arnold, London, 2005, pp. 18–20</ref> The right to freedom of assembly is recognized as a [[human right]], a [[Political freedom|political right]] and a [[Civil liberties|civil liberty]].

The terms ''freedom of assembly'' and ''freedom of association'' may be used to distinguish between the freedom to assemble in public places and the freedom to join an association. Freedom of assembly is often used in the context of the [[right to protest]], while freedom of association is used in the context of labor rights. The [[Constitution of the United States]] is interpreted to mean both the freedom to assemble and the freedom to join an association.<ref>See: NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co., 458 U.S. 898 (1982); Healey v. James, 408 U.S. 169 (1972); Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen v. Virginia, 377 U.S. 1 (1964); United Mine Workers v. Illinois State Bar Assn., 389 U.S. 217 (1967).</ref>