Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/19-251_p86b.pdf
Page Number: 7.0

Cite as:  594 U. S. ____ (2021) 

3 

Opinion of the Court 

the sanctity of human life.”  Brief for Petitioner Law Cen-
ter 4.  Since 2001, each petitioner has renewed its registra-
tion and has filed a copy of its Form 990 with the Attorney
General, as required by Cal. Code Regs., tit. 11, §301.  Out 
of concern for their donors’ anonymity, however, the peti-
tioners have declined to file their Schedule Bs (or have filed 
only redacted versions) with the State. 

For many years, the petitioners’ reluctance to turn over
donor information presented no problem because the Attor-
ney  General  was  not  particularly  zealous  about  collecting 
Schedule  Bs.  That  changed  in  2010,  when  the  California
Department  of  Justice  “ramped  up  its  efforts  to  enforce 
charities’ Schedule B obligations, sending thousands of de-
ficiency letters to charities that had not complied with the 
Schedule B requirement.”  Americans for Prosperity Foun-
dation  v.  Becerra,  903  F. 3d  1000,  1006  (CA9  2018).    The 
Law Center and the Foundation received deficiency letters
in 2012 and 2013, respectively.  When they continued to re-
sist  disclosing  their  contributors’  identities,  the  Attorney
General threatened to suspend their registrations and fine
their directors and officers. 

The petitioners each responded by filing suit in the Cen-
tral District of California.  In their complaints, they alleged
that the Attorney General had violated their First Amend-
ment rights and the rights of their donors.  The petitioners
alleged  that  disclosure  of  their  Schedule  Bs  would  make 
their  donors  less  likely  to  contribute  and  would  subject
them to the risk of reprisals.  Both organizations challenged
the  disclosure  requirement  on  its  face  and  as  applied  to
them. 

In each case, the District Court granted preliminary in-
junctive  relief  prohibiting  the  Attorney  General  from  col-
lecting their Schedule B information.  Americans for Pros-
perity  Foundation  v.  Harris,  2015  WL  769778  (CD  Cal., 
Feb. 23, 2015); App. to Pet. for Cert. in No. 19–255, pp. 90a–
96a.  The Ninth Circuit vacated and remanded.  Americans