Federal Election Commission v. National Right to Work Committee

Background

A nonprofit advocacy group that opposes compulsory unionism set up a separate political fund and sent letters to hundreds of thousands of people purchased from commercial mailing lists. The group’s articles of incorporation said it ‘‘shall not have members,’’ but its mailings asked recipients to return questionnaires, sometimes received membership cards, and solicited contributions for the fund. A federal agency that enforces campaign finance law found probable cause that the nonprofit had used corporate funds to solicit nonmembers and sued; a lower court sided with the agency, the Court of Appeals reversed, and the case reached this Court.

Reasoning

The central question was whether the people the nonprofit solicited counted as ‘‘members’’ under the federal campaign finance statute that allows nonprofit corporations to solicit only their members for separate political funds. The Court held that ‘‘members’’ requires a real, enduring connection like stockholders or union members, not simply answering a mass mailing. The Court looked to the nonprofit’s charter, bylaws, and state law and emphasized that solicited people did not vote, meet, or control the organization. It rejected the nonprofit’s claims that the statute unconstitutionally restricted association or was too vague, concluding Congress’ interest in preventing corruption and the appearance of corruption justified the rule and its application here.

Real world impact

The decision means nonprofits cannot use broad commercial mailing lists to solicit political-fund donations by treating respondents as members. The federal agency may enforce the statute against wide mail solicitations, and nonprofits will need clearer membership structures before targeting people as members for political fundraising. Some penalties and remedies were left for further proceedings on remand.