Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/19-251_p86b.pdf
Page Number: 31

2 

AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY FOUNDATION v. BONTA 

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 

where  it  collects  and  keeps  charitable  organizations’  tax 
forms.  The majority holds that a California regulation re-
quiring charitable organizations to disclose tax forms con-
taining the names and contributions of their top donors un-
constitutionally  burdens  the  right  to  associate  even  if  the 
forms are not publicly disclosed.

In so holding, the Court discards its decades-long require-
ment that, to establish a cognizable burden on their associ-
ational rights, plaintiffs must plead and prove that disclo-
sure  will  likely  expose  them  to  objective  harms,  such  as 
threats, harassment, or reprisals.  It also departs from the
traditional,  nuanced  approach  to  First  Amendment  chal-
lenges, whereby the degree of means-end tailoring required 
is  commensurate  to  the  actual  burdens  on  associational 
rights.  Finally,  it  recklessly  holds  a  state  regulation  fa-
cially invalid despite petitioners’ failure to show that a sub-
stantial proportion of those affected would prefer anonym-
ity, much less that they are objectively burdened by the loss
of it. 

Today’s analysis marks reporting and disclosure require-
ments  with  a  bull’s-eye.  Regulated  entities  who  wish  to
avoid their obligations can do so by vaguely waving toward
First Amendment “privacy concerns.”  Ante, at 17.  It does 
not  matter  if  not  a  single  individual  risks  experiencing  a 
single  reprisal  from  disclosure,  or  if  the  vast  majority  of 
those affected would happily comply.  That is all irrelevant 
to  the  Court’s  determination  that  California’s  Schedule  B 
requirement is facially unconstitutional.  Neither precedent 
nor  common  sense  supports  such  a  result.    I  respectfully
dissent. 

I 
Charitable organizations that wish to solicit tax-deducti-
ble contributions from California residents must maintain 
membership in a registry managed by the California attor-
ney  general.  Cal.  Govt.  Code  Ann.  §§12584,  12585  (West