Watchdog Praises SCOTUS Donor Disclosure Ruling

For Immediate Release                                                                                                     Contact: Courtney Mattison

July 1, 2021                                                                                                                                (202-525-7492)                     

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) praised the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) for taking a stand for donors’ privacy rights and First Amendment protections. In a 6-3 ruling, the highest court of the land ruled that a California law requiring the non-public disclosure of donor information is an unacceptable burden on donors’ free speech rights. Furthermore, California failed to make the case that the onerous regulation is narrowly tailored to serve an important governmental interest. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts found that, “compelled disclosure requirements are reviewed under exacting scrutiny” and California’s rationale for such a strict system simply does not pass muster.

TPA President David Williams commended SCOTUS for their ruling, noting, “Over the past few decades, the Supreme Court has repeatedly and consistently found in favor of First Amendment protections for donors and non-profits. The rationale could not be clearer. Without protections safeguarding donor anonymity, states and municipalities could harass non-profit groups with whom they disagree. These unwanted and hostile state actions prevented civil rights activists from organizing in states such as Alabama in the 1950s. Disclosure requirements and harassment paved the way for the landmark 1958 SCOTUS decision NAACP v. Alabama, in which the court found that states cannot order organizations to hand over their membership lists. This ruling ensured the protection of freedom of association for future generations. Similarly, today’s ruling sets a welcome precedent in favor of hard-fought First Amendment protections.”

Williams continued, “In trying to uphold their onerous donor disclosure law, California argued before the court that it was not making any information public. But, as the majority opinion notes, ‘The [Americans for Prosperity] Foundation identified nearly 2,000 confidential Schedule Bs that had been inadvertently posted to the Attorney General’s website, including dozens that were found the day before trial.’ Clearly, California could not be trusted not to reveal the information it was ostensibly working to protect from the public eye. SCOTUS fortunately saw past the state’s rhetoric and found that donor and member information would never truly be safe in California’s hands. Even absent the threat of disclosure, the ‘constant and heavy’ pressure of simply disclosing information to the state requires a rationale. And the state has failed to persuasively explain why said disclosures are in the best interest of the public.”

Williams concluded: “Today’s decision is a critical step forward for stronger First Amendment and donor privacy protections. Organizations from the Taxpayers Protection Alliance to the American Civil Liberties Union can keep on doing their pivotal work without fear of state harassment or retaliation.”

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Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to educating the public through the research, analysis and dissemination of information on the government’s effects on the economy.