In the case of New York ex rel. Bryant v. Zimmerman et al., 1928, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a New York law that required organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan to provide membership lists and other records for inspection by state officials. The plaintiff, an officer of the KKK, argued that this requirement violated his rights under the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause and interfered with his freedom of association protected by First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly. However, Justice Sanford writing for a unanimous court held that states have broad powers to regulate private groups when they pose potential threats to public safety or order - in this case because of their secret nature and history associated with violence against certain racial or religious groups.

In the dissenting opinion for New York ex rel. Bryant v. Zimmerman et al., Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. argued that the Ku Klux Klan, as an organization, had a right to exist and operate within its constitutional rights despite its controversial nature and activities. He contended that while individual members could be held accountable for illegal actions, it was not justifiable to ban or penalize the entire organization unless it was proven beyond reasonable doubt that its primary purpose was to engage in unlawful conduct or incite violence and disorder. Furthermore, he maintained that freedom of association is a fundamental aspect of liberty protected by the Constitution; thus any law infringing upon this right should be subject to strict scrutiny before being upheld by courts.