Columbus, OH – On Friday, The Buckeye Institute filed its third amicus brief in Texas Top Cop Shop v. Garland, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to reject the Biden administration’s attempt to enforce the Corporate Transparency Act—an Orwellian federal surveillance program of small businesses.

“The Framers of the U.S. Constitution designed the First Amendment to protect our right to associate, free from the government’s prying eyes,” said Robert Alt, president and chief executive officer of The Buckeye Institute, who is also counsel of record on the three briefs. “But that is just what the draconian reporting requirements in this law allow—an invasive government mandate that effectively amounts to an unconstitutional dragnet federal surveillance program of small businesses.”

If the Biden administration is successful and is allowed to enforce this sweeping law—a law that the federal district court already said is “likely unconstitutional”—millions of American small business owners will be forced to register with the government or else face criminal penalties and a $500 fine for every day the report is late, incomplete, or inaccurate.

In its brief, The Buckeye Institute points out that heavy-handed reporting requirements included in the Corporate Transparency Act are little different than those found unconstitutional in Americans for Prosperity Found. v. Bonta and NAACP v. Alabama.

Alt continued, “Assurances that the government will protect the information it gathers offer little solace given the government’s track record of leaks, let alone given that citizens seek to keep their associations confidential from the government itself.”

On December 20, The Buckeye Institute filed its first amicus brief in this crucial case to stop the Corporate Transparency Act from going into effect, forcing approximately 32 million small businesses to register the names, addresses, dates of birth, and copies of an unexpired passport or driver’s license for each of its “beneficial owners” with the federal government by December 31, 2024. After a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit lifted the preliminary injunction on December 23, The Buckeye Institute filed a second amicus brief in the case, calling on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to grant an emergency petition for rehearing en banc (by the full court) and reinstate the preliminary injunction. On December 26, 2024, a panel for the Fifth Circuit adopted the arguments outlined in The Buckeye Institute’s second brief and reinstated a preliminary injunction stopping the Biden administration’s ability to enforce the Corporate Transparency Act.

The Center for Individual Rights represents Texas Top Cop Shop in this important case. Stay tuned for further updates from your Buckeye Institute, as this case has huge implications.

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