| Litigants: | Gibson v. Florida Legislative Comm. |
| Arguedate: | December 5 |
| Argueyear: | 1961 |
| Rearguedatea: | October 10 |
| Rearguedateb: | 11 |
| Reargueyear: | 1962 |
| Decidedate: | March 25 |
| Decideyear: | 1963 |
| Fullname: | Gibson v. Florida Legislative Investigation Committee |
| Usvol: | 372 |
| Uspage: | 539 |
| Parallelcitations: | 83 S. Ct. 889; 9 L. Ed. 2d 929; 1963 U.S. LEXIS 2503 |
| Holding: | On the record in this case, petitioner's conviction of contempt for refusal to divulge information contained in the membership lists of the Association violated rights of association protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments. |
| Majority: | Goldberg |
| Joinmajority: | Warren, Black, Douglas, Brennan |
| Concurrence: | Black |
| Concurrence2: | Douglas |
| Dissent: | Harlan |
| Joindissent: | Clark, Stewart, White |
| Dissent2: | White |
Gibson v. Florida Legislative Investigation Committee, 372 U.S. 539 (1963), was a United States Supreme Court case based on the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It held that a legislative committee cannot compel a subpoenaed witness to give up the membership lists of his organization.[1] [2]
In 1956, a committee of the Florida Legislature initiated an investigation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)'s Miami branch. When the authority of this committee expired, a new committee was formed in 1957 to pursue the same inquiry. This new committee subpoenaed the branch's membership list. Production of such information was refused. Due to this refusal, the president of NAACP's Miami branch was convicted of contempt, sentenced, and fined. [3] [4]
The Supreme Court held that the conviction violated rights of association under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.