Why a PMA
Assemblies of this kind are older than 1776. They were called committees of safety, county assemblies, bodies-politic. The First Amendment ratified the right the founders already practiced: to peaceably assemble, to petition, to keep a house the public office does not get to furnish.
Private domain, public domain
A mala in se crime is evil in itself. A mala prohibita act is a crime only because a legislature said so — licensing, paperwork, public-welfare offenses. In the private domain of a First Amendment association, the modes of association which the State may not prohibit remain protected. Mala in se is never sheltered. That is the whole distinction, said plainly.
The posture
We educate friends of the United States. Path to Equity is not a protest class. Protect the compact. Do not declare war on it. Clean hands, sound mind, informed consent.
Sanctuary
The private domain is a sanctuary from unjustified interference by the State.
Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U.S. 510
Shelter
Freedom of association is a constitutional shelter — a shield for those who assemble in private.
Roberts v. United States Jaycees, 468 U.S. 609
Domain set apart
The Court speaks of domains set apart for free assembly. A PMA lives in that domain.
Thomas v. Collins, 323 U.S. 516
Preserve
The First Amendment right of association creates a preserve the public office does not get to police as a matter of course.
Baird v. State Bar of Arizona, 401 U.S. 1