The Supreme Court has long recognized that a group facing a realistic threat of harassment for revealing its donors or vendors has a First Amendment right to exemption from generally applicable campaign finance laws. The case establishing this principle, Brown v. Socialist Workers Party ’74 Campaign Committee, has come up as the SWP has sought a continued exemption.

Today, on a party line vote, the FEC refused to extend the exemption, based upon the evidence presented that SWP donors still faced a threat of harassment.

We’ll see if this next ends up in court.