Opinion ID: 6221816
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Reply Brief Arguments

Text: In their reply brief, Plaintiffs advance new allegations and provide documentary evidence showing that, before they filed their complaint, the Secretary had sent Cowboys for Trump a “Notice of Final Action” to register as a political committee, file all delinquent finance reports, and pay $7,800 in fines for failing to comply with the CRA’s reporting requirements. Also, before the complaint was filed, Cowboys for Trump challenged the Secretary’s notice by requesting binding arbitration, and the Secretary filed a motion for summary judgment with the arbitrator. Plaintiffs do not explain why they did not include these allegations in their complaint, and for several reasons, we decline to consider them or the related documentary evidence attached to their reply brief. First, “[w]e generally do not consider arguments raised for the first time in a reply brief.” Sierra Club v. Okla. Gas & Elec. Co., 816 F.3d 666, 676 n.9 (10th Cir. 2016). Second, our review in this case is confined to whether the complaint’s allegations are sufficient to withstand a motion for judgment on the pleadings, and we will not look beyond the record on appeal. See Summum v. Callaghan, 130 F.3d 906, 913 n.9 (10th Cir. 1997) (denying motion to file a video as part of the appellate record on review of a dismissal for failure to state a claim, stating “our review is confined 11 Appellate Case: 21-2015 Document: 010110645360 Date Filed: 02/15/2022 Page: 12 to allegations made in the . . . complaint”). Third, the district court dismissed the complaint in December 2020 with leave to amend. But Plaintiffs did not avail themselves of that opportunity to cure the standing defects. Had they done so, they could have included these allegations as well as the fact that, shortly after the complaint was filed, the arbitrator summarily granted the Secretary’s motion for summary judgment and awarded her all the relief she sought. 7 Finally, we reject Plaintiffs’ suggestion to take judicial notice of statecourt filings related to confirmation of the arbitration award, all of which occurred after the district court dismissed the action. Those events are irrelevant because “standing is determined at the time the action is brought, and we generally look to when the complaint was first filed, not to subsequent events.” Mink v. Suthers, 482 F.3d 1244, 1253–54 (10th Cir. 2007) (citation omitted). Plaintiffs also argue that Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta, 141 S. Ct. 2373 (2021), conclusively establishes that Plaintiffs have associational standing. 8 We disagree. Americans for Prosperity involved a California regulation requiring tax-exempt charities renewing their state registrations to disclose IRS forms containing the names and addresses of donors who 7 Plaintiffs point out that the Secretary noted in her motion for judgment on the pleadings that an arbitrator had upheld her determination that Cowboys for Trump is a political committee subject to the CRA and had to register and pay fines for noncompliance with the CRA’s reporting requirements. But our review is limited to the allegations in the complaint. See Summum, 130 F.3d at 913 n.9. 8 Because the Supreme Court decided Americans for Prosperity after Plaintiffs filed their opening brief, it was appropriately raised in their reply brief. 12 Appellate Case: 21-2015 Document: 010110645360 Date Filed: 02/15/2022 Page: 13 contributed more than $5,000 in a tax year. See id. at 2380. The Supreme Court held that the regulation “impose[d] a widespread burden on donors’ [First Amendment] associational rights” and was “facially unconstitutional, because it fails exacting scrutiny in a substantial number of applications judged in relation to its plainly legitimate sweep.” Id. at 2389 (brackets, ellipsis, and internal quotation marks omitted). But standing was not at issue in the case. Unlike Plaintiffs here, who disclaimed having engaged in, or an intent to engage in, the activity (independent expenditures) triggering the challenged donor-disclosure requirements, each of the charities had renewed its registration but declined to make the required donor disclosures associated with registration, see id. at 2380. Americans for Prosperity, therefore, is inapplicable to the standing issues in this case.