Thomas More Law Center v. Bonta

Summary

In 2010, California began requiring all nonprofit organizations who solicit donations in the state, like Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), to disclose the names and addresses of major donors to the California attorney general’s office on an annual basis, even though it had no genuine need for the information. In addition, the office publicly disclosed donors’ private information and created a perfect target for hackers by uploading thousands of confidential documents to the internet, where they were easily discoverable and not well protected. This unnecessarily opened up donors to harassment and intimidation for engaging in activity protected by the First Amendment.

Thankfully, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of TMLC, and struck down California’s blanket donor-disclosure requirement, protecting every American’s right to peacefully support causes they believe in without fear of harassment or intimidation.

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John Bursch

Senior Counsel, Vice President of Appellate Advocacy

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