California Has No Need to Doxx Donors

Ilya Shapiro,Trevor Burrus, andMallory ReaderAmericans for Prosperity Foundation and the Thomas More Law Center are charitable organizations who advocate for a variety of free ‐​market and socially conservative viewpoints that are controversial in the current political climate. As nonprofits, they fund their activities through private donations from like‐​minded individuals across the country, many of whom prefer to remain anonymous for fear of public reprisal. Th ese fears are well‐​founded: people associated with AFP and Thomas More have experienced threats, harassment, boycotts, and even violence because of their views and affiliations.In 2010, the California attorney general ’s office began demanding that all charities that fundraise in the state turn over their IRS Form 990 Schedule B. A Schedule B is a highly confidential form that lists the names and addresses of a charity ’s major donors—including those who live outside of California. Although the attorney general’s office claimed that it would keep Schedule Bs private, systematic incompetence and a lack of safeguards have led to repeated and widespread leaks of the documents to the public.AFP and Thomas More each refused to give California their Schedule Bs and filed lawsuits to protect their donors ’ anonymity. Both charities won at the trial‐​court level, where a federal judge found that the disclosure requirement violated the donors ’ First Amendment r...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs