Supreme Court Order Lets “Sunlight On Dark Money” Campaign Ad Disclosure Law Stand

October 7, 2024

Supreme Court Order Lets "Sunlight On Dark Money" Campaign Ad Disclosure Law Stand

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an orderdenying a request for review of a California campaign-ad law that requires disclosure of the names and donation amounts of major funders in the ads themselves.

The "Sunlight on Dark Money" law was approved as a ballot measure in 2019 by 77% of San Francisco voters. The law strengthened rules for campaign ads by requiring local campaign ads to identify by name and donation amount their top three contributors of $5,000 or more. For the first time, the required disclosure included the biggest backers of "shell committees" if they are top campaign-ad funders. These "shell committees," often given innocuous-sounding names like 'San Franciscans for San Francisco,' have become shields commonly used by billionaires, corporations, and other mega-donors to hide their funding of campaign ads.

Opponents of the "Sunlight on Dark Money" law, such as the conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity, argued these disclosure requirements are an imposition on free speech in violation of the First Amendment because, they say, the disclosures could take up too much space on campaign ads and could discourage big donors who prefer to give anonymously.  

After a federal district court in California and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected their arguments, opponents petitioned the Supreme Court for review. Today, the Supreme Court denied the petition in the case, called No on E v. Chiu,No. 23-926.

Jon Golinger, a democracy advocate with Public Citizen and co-author of the "Sunlight on Dark Money" law,issued the following statement in response: "Effective disclosure empowers voters by arming them with information to evaluate the credibility of campaign ads by revealing who's behind them. By denying the challengers' petition, the Supreme Court today allowed San Francisco's Sunlight on Dark Money law to keep working, so voters can consider the merits of the messages on campaign ads in light of the funders. We hope other cities, states, and Congress will follow suit and enact similarly strong campaign ad disclosure laws to give voters the information that they need."