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Lahmann v. Grand Aerie of Fraternal Order of Eagles10/12/2005
ic and social fabric of life in Oregon.
Moreover, even assuming that the plain language of the section indicates, as its primary purpose, association for political objectives, that purpose necessarily implies a corresponding right to associate with others for political, social, economic, and cultural ends. If the freedom to assemble to petition the government is to be safeguarded, individuals first must be permitted to associate for a variety of nonpolitical reasons, and thereby discover their collective needs. Cf. Roberts v. United States Jaycees, 468 US 609, 622, 104 S Ct 3244, 82 L Ed 2d 462 (1984) (" e have long understood as implicit in the right to engage in activities protected by the First Amendment a corresponding right to associate with others in pursuit of a wide variety of political, social, economic, educational, religious, and cultural ends."). The majority acknowledges that, "at the national level, the Eagles have on occasion apparently been known to support particular political objectives * * *." ___ Or App at ___ (slip op at 24). That the Eagles, through the association of members, have identified and pursued political objectives demonstrates exactly why the freedom to associate is essential to the freedom of assembly for political objectives.
The second prong of the Priest methodology for interpreting the Oregon Constitution is an examination of case law. There is no case law surrounding section 26 that supports the majority's interpretation that the provision is limited to assembly for political discourse.
The final prong of the Priest methodology concerns the historical circumstances that led to the adoption of section 26. In the absence of documentation about the framers' purpose for enacting section 26 (or any of its likely models, for that matter), the majority looks to what it describes as "'historical circumstances' more generally." ___ Or App at ___ (slip op at 18). In doing so, the majority focuses not on the circumstances in Oregon at the time of the adoption of section 26, but on the significance of assembly clauses to framers in colonial America. Oregon's constitution, however, was drafted more than three-quarters of a century later, and the nature of local government and the significance of private associations had changed. As the Eagles aptly point out in their brief, fraternal orders became extremely popular in the nation in the first half of the nineteenth century as its population spread west. The very idea of these fraternal organizations was to unify individuals for a common purpose. Active in the territory of Oregon by the 1850s were the Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF). Other kinds of organizations soon followed and were formed in the state for purposes of association around a common vocation or theme, such as the Grange or temperance groups. It would have been inconceivable for an Oregon citizen in 1857 to have believed that only political g
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