By Ciara Torres-SpelliscyThe Protect Marriage case may not resolve the issue in CCP and APF cases since ProtectMarriage is about campaign spending in a ballot initiative and at least from the outside, there does not appear to be an allegation of political spending by either group, which is consistent with CCP’s and APF’s 501(c)(3) tax status, which bars both groups from political interventions.But as the Nonprofit Quarterly put it, the CCP and APF cases “raise questions about the importance of nonprofit confidentiality or, most specifically, whether donor confidentiality should be sacrosanct in this day and age of big money manipulating and contorting electoral processes.”So do the Koch Brothers deserve some privacy? At least one federal judge thinks so as the APF and CCP cases continue through the litigation process. Meanwhile, California also has an interest in regulating the charities that are fundraising in their state and regulating while blindfolded will be untenable. But who will win this particular fight in the long run is really up in the air.
