The U.S. Supreme Court case Greer, Commander, Fort Dix Military Reservation, et al. v. Spock et al., 1975 revolved around the issue of First Amendment rights on a military base. Dr Benjamin Spock and others had been barred from distributing political literature and holding a political meeting at Fort Dix Military Reservation without prior approval by the commander of the base. They argued that this was an infringement on their freedom of speech and expression as protected by the First Amendment. However, in its decision, the Supreme Court upheld restrictions placed upon free speech within military installations due to national security concerns inherent to such locations. The court ruled that because military bases are not public forums like streets or parks where people can freely gather for expressive activity; therefore they have different rules regarding free speech activities. The justices stated that it is essential for these bases to limit certain freedoms in order to maintain good order and discipline among service members which outweighs any potential violation of constitutional rights under normal circumstances.

In the dissenting opinion for Greer v. Spock, Justice William O. Douglas argued that the majority's decision violated First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly. He contended that Fort Dix, as a military base open to civilians for various activities such as attending church or visiting servicemen, should be considered a public forum where political speeches and distribution of literature are protected under constitutional law. Douglas disagreed with the majority's view that these activities could interfere with military discipline; he believed this was speculative at best since no evidence had been presented showing any disruption caused by previous political activity on base grounds. Furthermore, he criticized the Court’s ruling for giving too much discretion to commanders in determining what constitutes permissible expression within their bases without clear guidelines or standards.