WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — The final two Supreme Court opinions of the term make it clear how much influence the conservative majority will have.
In a 6-3 opinion, the Supreme Court struck down California’s requirement for charities and non-profits to disclose the names of their top donors.
Conservative and liberal groups opposed California’s law and the Supreme Court agreed California’s requirement violated donor’s First Amendment rights.
“These are organizations that are operating in the public domain that are actually advocating for public policy changes and in some cases actually advocating for certain candidates,” said Michael Cohen, the CEO of the Cohen Research Group and author of “Modern Political Campaigns.”
Cohen says this case now opens the door for other lawsuits to directly challenge campaign finance laws.
In another decision, the conservative justices also upheld two controversial voting laws in Arizona. One allows the state to throw out ballots cast in the wrong precinct; another blocks third parties from collecting ballots.
The federal appeals court in San Francisco had blocked Arizona’s laws for disproportionately impacting Black, hispanic and Native American voters. But Justice Samuel Alito said the state’s interests in election integrity justify the measures.
Democrats like Florida Congressman Darren Soto say Congress needs to pass new reforms.
“The right to vote is under attack by state legislatures, by the Supreme Court, and we need to pass HR1 — the For the People Act — or at the very least pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.
But the measures are unlikely to pass in the narrowly-divided Senate.