SCOTUS Invalidates California Political Donor Disclosure Requirements

On July 1, 2021 the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 6-3 decision in Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta holding that California's disclosure requirement burdens donors' First Amendment rights and is not narrowly tailored to an important government interest. California requires nonprofit organizations to provide the state with a copy of the tax form they file with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service listing donors. Larger groups must disclose donors who contributed $200,000 or more in any year. The information is confidential but in the past it has been leaked. The dissent, authored by Justice Sotomayor, argued that narrow tailoring is required only for disclosure regimes that "impose a severe burden on associational rights" and the petitioners did not show that burden. See Reuters, Yahoo!News.