N.A.A.C.P. v. Button (1963) 371 U.S. 415, is as authority that political activity 6 includes not only the litigants, but also their lawyers, when they "associate for the purpose of assisting persons who seek legal redress for infringements of their constitutionally guaranteed and other rights." (Id. at p. 428.) At issue was the constitutionality of a state statute regulating the legal profession by making it a criminal violation to advise a person that his legal rights have been infringed and refer him to a particular attorney or group of attorneys for assistance or to render legal assistance to a person so referred. The lawyers whose conduct was at issue were attorneys on the staff of the plaintiff NAACP. They were part of an organization which advocated civil rights for Black people and encouraged members of the Black community to use them to litigate in order to protect their civil rights. (Id. at pp. 434-436.) The court ruled that the statute unconstitutionally restricted the organization's freedom of association and expression guaranteed by the First Amendment. (Id. at p. 437.) Rather than speaking of "political activity," the Supreme Court refers to the exercise of First Amendment rights such as "vigorous advocacy . . . against governmental intrusion." (N.A.A.C.P. v. Button, supra, 371 U.S. at p. 429.) The Court explains that "in the context of NAACP objectives, litigation . . . is a means for achieving the lawful objectives of equality of treatment by all government . . . . It is thus a form of political expression." (Ibid.)