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The NAM filed an amicus brief to support a petition for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court that seeks to overturn a requirement by the California Attorney General that compels public charities to report to the state the names of their contributors. Beginning in 2010, the California Attorney General began demanding that thousands of registered charities annually disclose to the state the individual names and addresses of major donors. A federal district court and the 9th Circuit upheld the requirement. The full 9th Circuit denied en banc review over a five-judge dissent that recognized the requirement “eviscerates the First Amendment protections long established” by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This issue is important to manufacturers because many of them contribute to charities and belong to associations like the NAM that do not disclose their members but could be compelled to do so based on the 9th Circuit’s reasoning. In support of a petition for certiorari to review and reverse the 9th Circuit holding, the NAM filed an amicus brief that explains the important first amendment principles at stake and how the lower courts failed to appropriately protect those rights. On January 8, 2021 the Court granted cert. The NAM filed a brief on the merits arguing that anonymity is essential for people and companies to freely and effectively speak and associate, and that the Ninth Circuit’s decision invites states to chill disfavored speech by opening trade and advocacy association members to retaliation, including boycotts, harassment, or even threatened or actual violence. Happily, on July 1, 2021, the Court rule in a 6-3 opinion that California’s donor disclosure mandate is facially unconstitutional.