Washington D.C., Jul 2, 2021 / 01:01 am
The US Supreme Court ruled Thursday that California violated the First Amendment by requiring charitable organizations operating in the state to disclose the names and addresses of their major donors.
In the 6-3 decision, delivered by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court ruled that California’s disclosure requirement “imposes a widespread burden on donors’ associational rights.”
“The Court does not doubt the importance of California’s interest in preventing charitable fraud and self-dealing. But the enormous amount of sensitive information collected….does not form an integral part of California’s fraud detection efforts,” the chief justice wrote July 1.
Roberts added that the requirements “cannot be justified” on the ground that they are “narrowly tailored to investigating charitable wrongdoing, or that the State’s interest in administrative convenience is sufficiently important.”