The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday sided with a Christian legal group in striking down California’s requirement that nonprofit organizations disclose the identities of their major donors.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday sided with a Christian legal group in striking down California’s requirement that nonprofit organizations disclose the identities of their major donors.
Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented the Thomas More Law Center, applauded the decision.
“The Supreme Court has confirmed that every American is free to peacefully support causes they believe in without fear of harassment or intimidation,” said ADF senior counsel John Bursch. “Public advocacy is for everyone, not just those able to weather abuse. Forced donor disclosure is a threat to everyone and discourages both charitable giving and participation in the marketplace of ideas. The court correctly upheld the First Amendment’s promise of the freedom to associate with like-minded groups, which includes the right to donor privacy.”
First Liberty Institute also applauded the ruling. It filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of Citizen Power Initiatives for China.
“The freedom to associate with others of like mind is indispensable to freedom,” said Kelly Shackelford, president of First Liberty Institute. “Again today, the Supreme Court recognized that the disclosure of names and addresses of citizens simply for belonging to a cause is chilling to the freedom of association. Cancel culture is bad enough without the government forcing organizations to reveal the names of their donors so they can be attacked.”
