AFPF Files Amicus Brief to Support Vigorous Application of AFPF v. Bonta

AFPF filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of petitioner, First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, which is seeking to protect its donors’ privacy of against an investigatory subpoena issued by the New Jersey Attorney General.

This case should be controlled by AFPF v. Bonta, in which Americans for Prosperity Foundation protected the privacy of its donors against a demand for blanket disclosure by the California Attorney General. AFPF established that donor privacy is protected by the First Amendment and that mandatory disclosure requires satisfying the “exacting scrutiny” standard. Exactly scrutiny requires “narrow tailoring” or a means-end fit between the compelling interest the government asserts and the method it employs to uphold that interest.

First Choice presents the Court with an unusual procedural question that asks whether the victim of First Amendment infringement who seeks protection of its constitutional rights in federal court loses access to federal court when the state files a later action in state court to enforce its demand for disclosure. While this question may seem narrow, it represents just one of many ways the government may try to evade robust First Amendment protection by creatively invoking procedural workarounds.

But the First Amendment cannot be evaded so easily.

As AFPF argued in its brief, the Court should take this opportunity to clarify and solidify the holding of AFPF to protect the privacy of donors to charities who may have a viewpoint that is disfavored by zealous politicians.