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Lahmann v. Grand Aerie of Fraternal Order of Eagles10/12/2005
roups assembled for the common good, and that his or her right to discuss matters of common welfare in a group was limited to discourse that was part of the political process.
For those reasons, the majority fails in its duty to interpret section 26 as it was intended by the citizens of Oregon in 1857.
Finally, I disagree with the analysis of the majority under the freedom to assemble provision of the First Amendment because its analysis does not engage meaningfully with the actual nature of the Eagles' activities, as found by the trial court. The trial court found, and the evidence supports the finding, that the overriding purpose of the Eagles is to provide a forum for social activities. According to the trial court, the organization "heavily emphasize friendship, dancing, food and the bar." No United States Supreme Court decision has held that a state may require persons who join together for social activities to admit to their membership those of the opposite gender.
The majority, like the trial court, determines that the "Eagles' [First Amendment] claim not meaningfully be distinguished from a similar claim that was rejected by the United States Supreme Court in Roberts." ___ Or App at ___ (slip op at 24). In Roberts, the issue was whether a state public accommodations law that compelled the United States Jaycees to accept females as regular members infringed on the organization's members' freedom to associate only with members of their own gender. The Court observed that the " reedom of association therefore plainly presupposes a freedom not to associate." Roberts, 468 US at 623. The Court then declared that the right to associate for expressive purposes is not, however, absolute. Rather, " nfringements on that right may be justified by regulations adopted to serve compelling state interests, unrelated to the suppression of ideas, that cannot be achieved through means significantly less restrictive of associational freedoms." Id. Based on those predicate principles, the Court examined the application of the state law to the Jaycees in light of its peculiar activities. The Jaycees' activities included expression on political, economic, cultural, and social affairs involving a variety of civic, charitable, lobbying, fundraising, and other public activities. The Court concluded that, although those activities are protected by the First Amendment, there was "no basis in the record for concluding that admission of women as full voting members will impede the organization's ability to engage in these protected activities or to disseminate its preferred views." Id. at 627.
Although the members of the Willamette Eagles engage in some charitable activities, it is, as the trial court found, "mainly a social club." That factual difference is important in two respects: (1) it distinguishes the state interest at issue in this case from the interest at issue in Roberts; and (2) it highlights t
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