An attorney general with a reputation for leaking secret information is demanding the personal information of major donors to a Christian nonprofit, and its lawyers are appealing to the Supreme Court to quash the demand.
The Alliance Defending Freedom, representing the Michigan-based Thomas More Law Center, appealed to the Supreme Court after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the non-profit must disclose the names and addresses of major donors every year.
“The 9th Circuit’s ruling reversed a federal district court’s decision in favor of the nonprofit, even though the California attorney general’s office has no compelling need for the information and has historically handled it with great negligence, publicly disclosing donors on the internet when such information should not have been disclosed and creating a perfect target for hackers by uploading thousands of confidential documents to the internet,” ADF explained.
“In one instance, the attorney general’s office negligently disclosed the confidential information of hundreds of Planned Parenthood donors,” said ADF.
“Public advocacy is for everyone, not merely those able to weather abuse,” said ADF Senior Counsel and Vice President of Appellate Advocacy John Bursch.
“Forced donor disclosure is a threat to everyone and discourages both charitable giving and participation in the marketplace of ideas. California’s policy makes the First Amendment’s promise of ‘free association’ a pipe dream.”
Burch said donors “have good reason to fear in today’s toxic cultural climate, especially with the astounding negligence that California has demonstrated in keeping confidential information from being disclosed that it has no good reason to demand in the first place.”
TMLC defends religious freedom, moral and family values, and the sanctity of human life.
In 2012, the AG’s office “began to harass the law center and demand the names and addresses of its major donors even though the center’s donors, clients, and employees have faced intimidation, death threats, hate mail, boycotts, and even assassination attempts from ideological opponents,” ADF said.
The petition argues the high court’s decision in NAACP v. Alabama – which protected NAACP supporters from being targeted by white supremacists – applies to the case.
“Requiring hundreds of charities to disclose donors’ names and addresses annually to a registry with a proven history of leaking confidential information will have a devastating impact on support. In contrast, the attorney general does not need donors’ confidential information, hardly ever uses it, and can readily obtain that data via an audit or subpoena on a reasonable suspicion of fraud,” ADF said.
