Columbus, OH – On Friday, The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in Texas Top Cop Shop v. Garland. We considered sending a lump of coal to the Department of Justice, but have you seen the price of coal in this economy, let alone postage? Buckeye settled for an electronic filing instead. Buckeye’s brief called upon the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to keep in place a preliminary nationwide injunction on the positively Orwellian Corporate Transparency Act—a federal surveillance program of small businesses, to which your Buckeye Institute strongly objects.

“As most of us look forward to spending time with friends and families over the holidays, the Biden administration has shouted bah humbug and asked the courts to allow it to enforce a law enabling the unconstitutional federal surveillance of small businesses,” said Robert Alt, president and chief executive officer of The Buckeye Institute, who is also counsel of record on this brief.

The Corporate Transparency Act requires 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. Failure to do so will result in criminal penalties and a $500 fine for every day the report is late, incomplete, or inaccurate. We could not make this stuff up if we tried. It is every bit as heavy-handed and oppressive as it sounds. Americans should be duly alarmed.

On December 3, the U.S. District Court issued a preliminary injunction, finding this questionable law to be “likely unconstitutional.” Despite the impending holiday season, the federal government appealed that ruling on December 13, asking the Fifth Circuit to lift the injunction so that the deadline could go back into effect and the government could begin penalizing small business owners.

Alt continued, “If the Biden administration is successful in lifting this preliminary nationwide injunction, approximately 32 million hardworking small business owners will have only a few days—over the holidays, no less—to register with the government or else be subjected to potential federal prosecution and fines.”

The Buckeye Institute’s good friends at The Center for Individual Rights (CIR) represent Texas Top Cop Shop. Here’s hoping Buckeye’s brief is persuasive, CIR is victorious in this important case, and God bless us, every one!

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