Many Cultures, One Message et al. v. Clements
Protecting Americans’ Right To Engage In Grassroots Political Activism

	IJ client Pat Murakami of Many Cultures, One Message
	Mark Sussman and Alfred Petermann of Conservative Enthusiasts
	Download the PDF: Mowing Down the Grassroots: How Grassroots Lobbying Disclosure Suppresses Political Participation
	Watch the case video

At least 36 states have laws requiring people who engage in grassroots political activism to register with the government.  In Washington, which has one of the most extensive regulations affecting citizen political participation in the nation, if you spend above an artificially low government-imposed cap to urge your fellow citizens to contact government officials, you are forced to register with the government and report your name, address, business, and occupation, the names and addresses of anyone with whom you are working to spread your message, and the names and addresses of each person who contributes as little as $25 to your efforts.

In other words, in Washington, if you speak too much about politics, the government wants to know about it.  Moreover, the government does not merely collect this information—it makes it available to anyone with access to the Internet.  Your name, address, business and occupation are provided to the world because you dared to exercise your fundamental First Amendment rights.

Some Washingtonians believe that the government has no constitutional authority to monitor, collect and disseminate information about the political activities of private citizens.  Two organizations with diverse policy concerns—Many Cultures, One Message as well as Conservative Enthusiasts—each face the dilemma of registering with the government or halting their efforts to urge their fellow Washingtonians into political action.  That is why on April 15, 2010, they joined with the Institute for Justice to file suit against the members of Washington’s Public Disclosure Commission.  Many Cultures, One Message et al. v. Clements seeks to vindicate the fundamental right of all Americans to engage in political activity without governmental interference.