In the case of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama ex rel. Flowers, Attorney General (1963), the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of NAACP, asserting that it had a right to withhold its membership lists from state officials in Alabama. The court held that compelling disclosure would infringe on members' rights to freedom of association and privacy under the First Amendment as it could expose them to significant risks including economic reprisal, loss of employment, threat of physical coercion among others due to their affiliation with an unpopular organization like NAACP during this period marked by racial tensions and civil rights struggles. This landmark decision further solidified constitutional protections for organizations advocating controversial or unpopular causes against intrusive state actions aimed at suppressing such groups.

In the dissenting opinion for the case of NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE v. ALABAMA ex rel. FLOWERS, ATTORNEY GENERAL, Justice Harlan argued that Alabama had a legitimate interest in requiring corporations to disclose their membership lists as part of its regulatory power over foreign corporations operating within its borders. He believed that this requirement did not infringe on First Amendment rights because it was not intended to suppress free speech or association but rather to ensure corporate compliance with state law. Furthermore, he contended that NAACP's refusal to comply constituted an act of civil disobedience which should be punishable by law regardless of any potential chilling effect on freedom of association.