Brown v. Socialist Workers '74 Campaign Committee
United States Supreme Court
459 U.S. 87 (1982)
The Socialist Workers Party (SWP) (plaintiff), a roughly 60-member minor political party seeking to replace capitalism with socialism through legitimate political means, challenged an Ohio law requiring disclosure of campaign donors, presenting substantial evidence of hostility toward its members — threatening calls, hate mail, vandalism, burned literature, and members fired from jobs because of their party affiliation. The district court ruled the disclosure law unconstitutional as applied to the SWP, and Ohio appealed.
Whether a minor political party may be exempt from a compelled campaign-donor disclosure law where there is a reasonable probability that disclosure will subject the party to threats, harassment, or reprisals.