Do citizens in a free society have a right to privacy in charitable giving?

Portland Lawyers Chapter

Speakers: 

• James Huffman, Dean Emeritus of Lewis & Clark Law School
• Dan Meek, public interest attorney, Co-chair, the Independent Party of Oregon

Speakers: 

• James Huffman, Dean Emeritus of Lewis & Clark Law School
• Dan Meek, public interest attorney, Co-chair, the Independent Party of Oregon

Background: Contributions to candidates running for elective office must be disclosed to the public. The donor must reveal his or her name, address, occupation, and employer. These “donor transparency” requirements may deter some individuals from making political contributions if they anticipate the likelihood of retribution for backing the “wrong” candidate.
     Contributions to nonprofit charitable organizations do not carry the same requirements. However, in recent years, pressure has been growing to require charitable organizations to reveal more information about their donors. For example, during February 2015, U.S. Representative Raul M. Grijalva, a Democrat from Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District who is the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, sent letters to the heads of seven universities requesting donor information related to professors at those institutions who had previously testified before Congress regarding global warming and related topics.
     The universities, including MIT, Georgia Institute of Technology, and University of Alabama-Huntsville, were asked to turn over to Congress such information as the source of funding, amount of funding, and the reason for receiving the funding related to the named professors.

Register for the Event HERE.