Nonprofit Profs File Amicus Brief in Supreme Court Donor Disclosure Case

A dozen well-known and experienced nonprofit law professors yesterday filed an amicus brief supporting the California Attorney General in Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Rodriquez (previously named Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Becerra). As detailed in a previous post by Joseph Mead in this space, this pending Supreme Court case raises significant issues relating to the ability of governments to require charities to provide information identifying their major donors. Here is the first paragraph from the Summary of Argument:

California has a compelling interest in sustaining its charitable sector, the nation’s largest. Petitioners challenge the State’s requirement that tax-exempt charities provide to the California Attorney General, on a confidential basis, a copy of the IRS Form 990 Schedule B form that charities file annually with the Internal Revenue Service. Their challenge, if upheld, would undercut crucial and irreplaceable elements of California’s efforts to regulate its charitable sector and ensure public confidence in charities operating in the
State. More than that, Petitioners’ same arguments could apply equally to central aspects of the federal regulation of charities and other major components of state supervision. Thus, whatever the applicable level of constitutional scrutiny, California’s collection of information about major charitable donors should survive review.

More details and documents relating to the case can be found on the Supreme Court’s docket and on SCOTUSblog.

Lloyd Mayer