The First Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that Congress shall make no law abridging (curtailing) the right of the people to peaceably assemble. And the U.S. Supreme Court has determined that a right to freedom of association and belief is implicit in the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments. But this right to freedom of assembly is limited to First Amendment purposes and does not include a right to assemble for social purposes or to engage in or promote illegal activities. And when there is a right of association, the government may not require the group to disclose the identity of its members, or deny government benefits on the basis of current or past membership in a group.

In California, the right to peaceably assemble is protected under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, which applies to all states through the Fourteenth Amendment. This right allows individuals to gather for the purpose of expressing, promoting, pursuing, and defending their collective or shared ideas. The U.S. Supreme Court has also recognized a broader right to freedom of association, which encompasses the right to associate for expressive purposes, such as political, religious, or ideological functions. However, this right is not absolute and does not extend to assembling for purely social purposes or to further illegal activities. Additionally, while the government generally cannot compel groups to disclose their membership lists, this protection can be overridden if the state has a compelling interest that is unrelated to the suppression of ideas and if the disclosure requirement is narrowly tailored to serve that interest. In California, any restrictions on the right to assemble must meet the requirements of strict scrutiny, meaning they must be necessary to serve a compelling state interest and be narrowly tailored to achieve that interest. Public assemblies may be subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions, which are typically implemented through permit requirements to ensure public safety and order.