Guess Who Just Admitted Kamala Harris and Xavier Becerra Violated the First Amendment

The Supreme Court in January agreed to hear Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Becerra, which alleges that California violated the First Amendment by demanding that conservative nonprofits in the state — indeed, all nonprofits — disclose their donors to the state attorney general. That policy started under Jerry Brown and was enforced by his successors, Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Xavier Becerra. Becerra continues to defend the policy in court, even though it runs directly afoul of a 1958 decision, NAACP v. Alabama ex rel. Patterson, which established that the First Amendment right to association requires protecting the privacy of a group’s members and supporters.

Under Harris and Becerra, the California attorney general’s office was callous with the security of this sensitive information. The trial disclosed extensive evidence that the California AG’s office “systematically failed to maintain the confidentiality” of donor lists (filed on a form called Schedule B):

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Dan McLaughlin

Dan McLaughlin is a senior writer at National Review Online and a fellow at National Review Institute.

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The Supreme Court in January agreed to hear Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Becerra, which alleges that California violated the First Amendment by demanding that conservative nonprofits in the state — indeed, all nonprofits — disclose their donors to the state attorney general. That policy started under Jerry Brown and was enforced by his successors, Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Xavier Becerra. Becerra continues to defend the policy in court, even though it runs directly afoul of a 1958 decision, NAACP v. Alabama ex rel. Patterson, which established that the First Amendment right to association requires protecting the privacy of a group’s members and supporters.

Under Harris and Becerra, the California attorney general’s office was callous with the security of this sensitive information. The trial disclosed extensive evidence that the California AG’s office “systematically failed to maintain the confidentiality” of donor lists (filed on a form called Schedule B):