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Amicus Briefs

Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta

CASE SUMMARY

The question presented in this case was whether the holding of NAACP v. Alabama ex rel. Patterson would be applied to modern state attorneys-general who compel disclosure of supporter lists of unpopular organizations without articulating a substantial state interest in obtaining the information. Would this hard-won, bedrock civil rights era precedent still protect the vital relationship between the freedom to associate and privacy in one’s associations?

In a win for NCLA, on July 1, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized the blatant abuse of administrative power by a series of California attorneys-general. Chief Justice Roberts, writing for a 6-3 Court divided along ideological lines, held that the California Attorney General’s donor-disclosure policy for nonprofits—which began under Kamala Harris and continued under Xavier Becerra—was facially unconstitutional because it burdened donors’ First Amendment Rights and was not narrowly tailored to an important government interest.

NCLA filed three amicus briefs along the way in support of the petitioners in this case to defend the associational freedom and anonymity principles laid out in NAACP.

OUR TEAM

Mark Chenoweth
President and Chief Legal Officer
Sheng Li
Litigation Counsel
Margaret A. Little
Senior Litigation Counsel

RELEVANT MATERIALS

NCLA FILINGS

Opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court

July 1, 2021 | Read More

Brief of the New Civil Liberties Alliance as Amicus Curiae in Support of the Petitioners

March 1, 2021 | Read More

Brief for the United States as Amicus Curiae

November 24, 2020 | Read More

Brief of the New Civil Liberties Alliance as Amicus Curiae in Support of the Petitioners

September 25, 2019 | Read More

PRESS RELEASES

SCOTUS Upholds Civil Rights Precedent Securing Free Association Rights in NCLA’s Sixth Amicus Win

July 1, 2021 | Read More

NCLA Urges Supreme Court to Protect Landmark Civil Rights Precedent Against “Cancel Culture”

March 1, 2021

NCLA Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Uphold Landmark Civil Rights Precedent

September 25, 2019

NCLA Chides U.S. Ninth Circuit Court for Gutting a 60-Year-Old Bedrock Civil Rights Precedent

April 4, 2019

NCLA: The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Must Not Allow California’s Attorney General to Turn Back the Clock on Civil Rights in America

October 5, 2018

IN THE MEDIA

The Hamburger Court

The New York Sun

February 8, 2023

High Court Nixes California Collection of Donor Info From Political Nonprofits

Courthouse News Service

February 8, 2023

Supreme Court To Hear Challenge To HHS Nominee Xavier Becerra’s Attempt To Sic Mobs On Conservative Donors

The Federalist

February 8, 2023

Calif. Donor Info Law Unnecessary, 14 States Tell High Court

Law360

February 8, 2023

Cancel Culture on Trial

NCLA Blog

February 26, 2021

SEE 7 MEDIA MENTIONS
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