In re Primus

In re Primus
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued January 16, 1978 Decided May 30, 1978
Full case name	In re Primus
Citations	436 U.S. 412 (more)
Holding
Solicitation of prospective litigants by nonprofit organizations that engage in litigation as a form of political expression and political association constitutes expressive and associational conduct entitled to First Amendment protection.
Court membership
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Associate Justices William J. Brennan Jr. · Potter Stewart Byron White · Thurgood Marshall Harry Blackmun · Lewis F. Powell Jr. William Rehnquist · John P. Stevens
Case opinions
Majority	Powell, joined by Burger, Stewart, White, Blackmun, Stevens; Marshall (all but the first paragraph of part VI)
Concurrence	Blackmun
Concurrence	Marshall
Dissent	Rehnquist
Brennan took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amends. I, XIV

In re Primus, 436 U.S. 412 (1978), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that solicitation of prospective litigants by nonprofit organizations that engage in litigation as a form of political expression and political association constitutes expressive and associational conduct entitled to First Amendment protection.

Background

Primus was an attorney for the South Carolina affiliate of the ACLU. South Carolina had a policy of sterilizing certain women as a condition of receiving welfare. Primus sent letters to women who had been thusly sterilized, offering the legal assistance of the ACLU. The South Carolina's Supreme Court disciplinary board reprimanded Primus for violating South Carolina bar rules against soliciting business. The South Carolina Supreme Court approved the discipline. Primus appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Opinion of the Court

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the discipline, ruling that solicitation of prospective litigants by nonprofit organizations that engage in litigation as a form of political expression and political association constitutes expressive and associational conduct entitled to First Amendment protection.

See also

• NAACP v. Button, 371 U.S. 415 (1963)

External links

• Text of In re Primus, 436 U.S. 412 (1978) is available from: Justia