The Center for Equal Opportunity (CEO) has filed an amicus curiae brief with the Supreme Court of the United States supporting petitioners in the case of Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Becerra. The case involves a challenge to California’s forced-disclosure requirement of nonprofit donors. The ability of CEO—and other nonprofits across the ideological spectrum—to find support from donors who wish to remain anonymous is critical.
In brief, California requires charities that seek donations in the state to register with the California Attorney General’s Office and renew that registration every year. Starting in 2010, the Attorney General demanded that thousands of 501(c)(3) organizations across the nation—including Americans for Prosperity Foundation and Thomas More Law Center—submit the confidential Schedule B to IRS Form 990 as part of their registration. The Schedule B lists the names and addresses of major donors, their total contributions, and the types of contributions they make. Nonprofits that refuse to provide their Schedule B face serious penalties, including personal fines against their officers and directors, and a ban on fundraising in California.
Following separate bench trials, a federal district court held that California’s donor-disclosure mandate violated the plaintiff’s freedoms of speech and association, and permanently enjoined the Attorney General from demanding their Schedule Bs. On consolidated appeal, a panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the permanent injunctions and directed the district court to enter judgment in favor of the Attorney General. The Ninth Circuit denied petitions for en banc review.
In its brief supporting petitioners, CEO makes the following three arguments regarding California’s donor-disclosure regime:
The requirement fails the exacting scrutiny standard the Supreme Court has applied to compelled disclosure requirements for more than sixty years; California’s requirement is not closely drawn to further an important government interest, and it therefore violates petitioners’ First Amendment rights; and It cannot be sustained on the ground that the Internal Revenue Service also collects information about certain nonprofits’ “substantial contributors” on Schedule B.
Ultimately, the California forced-disclosure mandate is an existential threat to organizations like CEO and to the freedoms of speech and association guaranteed by the Constitution.
The Center for Equal Opportunity is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational organization that studies issues relating to race and ethnicity nationwide.
