in Lahmann v. Grand Aerie of Fraternal Order of Eagles (Schuman, J.), the court of appeals held, among other things, that the Oregon public accomodations act does not violate Article I, Section 26. That provision states:
No law shall be passed restraining any of the inhabitants of the State from assembling together in a peaceable manner to consult for their common good; nor from instructing their Representatives; nor from applying to the Legislature for redress of greviances [sic].
The court of appeals concluded, after an extensive analysis of historical circumstances, that the provision's protections extend only to gatherings for the purpose of political discourse and that the provision is not "an expansive guarantee of expressive association or purely social assembly divorced from matters of public concern."
Judge Edmonds dissented, arguing that the majority's interpretation of Article I, section 26, was too narrow.
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