An effort to overturn an Arizona law that requires disclosure of major anonymous political donors lost a significant battle in federal court.
A three-judge panel on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Sept. 30 upheld the Arizona District Court's decision to dismiss Americans for Prosperity's challenge to the "Voters' Right to Know Act." The panel's 2-1 decision said the law's disclosure requirements were constitutional because they help ensure the public has "accurate information about the sources of major campaign media spending."
Claims from Americans for Prosperity that the law had chilled speech rights were "conclusory and devoid of any specifics," the ruling said.
The decision was upheld by Judges Johnnie Rawlinson and Gabriel Sanchez,
appointed by Bill Clinton in 2000 and Joe Biden in 2021, respectively.
Judge Patrick Bumatay, appointed by Donald Trump in 2019, dissented, writing that anonymous political speech played a key role in the nation's founding and the First Amendment protected the right "to fund that speech without the government forcing public disclosure of one identity."
Arizona voters overwhelmingly OK'd anti-'dark money' law
The lawsuit was filed in 2023, the year after a decisive 72% of Arizona voters passed the law, also known as Proposition 211. The law, billed as a way to shine a light on "dark money," required groups that spend tens of thousands of dollars to influence the outcome of elections to identify their top donors.
That requirement included original-source donors, meaning a person who gave money to a group which then gave it to another group and so on, could not hide their identity.
Americans for Prosperity, a fiscal conservative advocacy group backed by oil billionaire Charles Koch, argued the disclosure requirements chilled free speech and violated associational rights under the First Amendment by eliminating donors' rights to remain anonymous and exposing them to threats or harassment. The claims mirrored arguments made by the Goldwater Institute and Free Enterprise Club in a statewide lawsuit that made its way to the Arizona Supreme Court.
The state's high court upheld the Voters Right to Know Act in June but did allow the groups' claim that the law violated their own free speech rights to continue back at trial court.
Americans for Prosperity did not immediately respond to request for comment. It's unclear whether the group plans to appeal the ruling, a decision that could potentially put the matter before the full panel of 9th Circuit judges or the U.S. Supreme Court.
Taylor Seely's role covering First Amendment issues at The Arizona Republic/azcentral.com is made possible by a collaboration among Freedom Forum, Journalism Funding Partners and the USA TODAY Network. Freedom Forum does not provide editorial input.
Do you have a story about the government infringing on your freedoms? Reach her at tseely@arizonarepublic.com or by phone at 480-476-6116. She can be reached on Instagram at @taylor.azc.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 9th Circuit Court upholds Arizona's anti-'dark money' law
