Supreme Court says California rule requiring nonprofits to reveal donor names is unconstitutional

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The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a California law requiring nonprofits to reveal the names of their major donors to the government is "facially unconstitutional." 

The 6-3 ruling came on the final day of a term that has seen the justices take a noticeably unified approach to a number of hot-button issues. But on the final day of the term, the court issued two rulings divided along ideological lines. Chief Justice John Roberts was joined by the five other Republican-appointed justices in siding with the conservative nonprofit groups that challenged the California law, 

"We do not doubt that California has an important interest in preventing wrongdoing by charitable organizations," Roberts wrote in the leading opinion. "There is a dramatic mismatch, however, between the interest that the Attorney General seeks to promote and the disclosure regime that he has implemented in service of that end."

The conservative groups who sued against the California law – Americans for Prosperity Foundation and the Thomas More Law Center – said that the First Amendment's protection of freedom of association because the disclosure requirements created a "chilling effect" on speech and "actual and potential" donations. California, meanwhile, said it asks charities to submit their IRS 990 Schedule B forms to the state for critical law enforcement purposes and that the forms will not be made public, so there is therefore no reason to worry about chilling speech. 

The court sided with the conservative groups, saying that such disclosure requirements infringe on the First Amendment. 

"Our cases have said that disclosure requirements can chill association'[e]ven if there [is] no disclosure to the general public," Roberts wrote. "While assurances of confidentiality may reduce the burden of disclosure to the State, they do not eliminate it." 

The opinion follows the court releasing its decision on a challenge to Arizona's election laws Tuesday and marks the end of its 2020-2021 term. And it comes at the height of speculation that Justice Stephen Breyer could step down, opening a Supreme Court seat for President Biden to fill. 

Most experts expect that announcement to come before the end of the week or else Breyer is likely to stay on for the court's next term, which begins in October. 
Source: Fox News
US Supreme Court by David is licensed under Flickr Flickr