Buckeye Institute v. Internal Revenue Service

To maintain § 501(c)(3) status, charities must disclose their major donors’ names,
addresses, and contributions to the IRS—notwithstanding the agency’s
acknowledgment of numerous incidents (and an ongoing risk) of the unlawful public
disclosure of confidential donor information. The Buckeye Institute brought an action
challenging the compelled disclosure requirement as a violation of its First
Amendment rights of association and assembly. The Southern District of Ohio held
the compelled disclosure requirement was subject to exacting scrutiny but certified an
interlocutory appeal on the question of the appropriate level of scrutiny applicable to
the law.

FIRE filed an amicus brief in the Sixth Circuit arguing the compelled disclosure
requirement arms the government with the power to target causes it dislikes and
threatens the survival of charities given the loss in donations if donors cannot reliably
donate anonymously. FIRE’s brief therefore concludes that because the compelled
disclosure requirement chills the First Amendment freedoms of all charities and their
supporters, no matter their mission, the law is subject to at least exacting scrutiny and
cannot withstand that standard of review. FIRE’s brief was joined by an ideologically
diverse coalition of 51 other charities—including American Atheists, the Catholic
Writers Guild, the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund, and Students for Life
of America.