Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Rodriquez
Issues
Does California’s Schedule B charitable donor disclosure requirement violate the First Amendment?
This case asks the Supreme Court to determine whether a state charitable donor disclosure regulation unconstitutionally infringes on donors’ and charitable organizations’ free speech and association rights. California recently started enforcing its Schedule B regulation, which requires charitable organizations to provide the confidential names of their financial donors. Petitioners Americans for Prosperity Foundation and Thomas More Law Center argue that this compelled disclosure is facially unconstitutional because it fails “exacting” scrutiny and unconstitutional as applied to them because of the extreme risks to their political minority donors. Respondent Matthew Rodriquez, the Attorney General of California, argues that the regulation is necessary to enforce charitable fraud laws and that California can meet its regulatory objectives while simultaneously protecting donors’ confidential data. The Supreme Court’s decision will determine whether charities in California must disclose the names of their donors to state regulators and will also determine the bounds of organizational free association rights.
Questions as Framed for the Court by the Parties
Whether the exacting scrutiny the Supreme Court has long required of laws that abridge the freedoms of speech and association outside the election context – as called for by NAACP v. Alabama ex rel. Patterson and its progeny – can be satisfied absent any showing that a blanket governmental demand for the individual identities and addresses of major donors to private nonprofit organizations is narrowly tailored to an asserted law-enforcement interest.
California has a law that requires charitable organizations to submit various tax forms to the state, including Schedule B to IRS Form 990 (“Schedule B”), which contains certain donor information. Ams. for Prosperity Found. v. Becerra at 1183. That information is normally considered confidential.
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Additional Resources
- Aysha Bagchi, Supreme Court to Hear California Donor-Disclosure Case in April, Bloomberg Law (Mar. 12, 2021).
- Elizabeth McGuigan, The Supreme Court’s Chance to Rule for Donor Privacy, Philanthropy Roundtable (Mar. 3, 2021).
- Daniel Tay, US Gets High Court Argument Time In Calif. Donor Info Row, Law360 (Apr. 5, 2021).