The Fountain Hills Republican Club hosted a special guest from the Goldwater Institute at its June 15 meeting.

Matt Miller has worked on the subject of free speech for more than a decade. He is currently the senior attorney at the Goldwater Institute and leads the institute’s free speech litigation effort.

Prior to joining the Goldwater Institute, while serving in the Texas Office of the Institute for Justice, Miller won important victories for free speech and economic liberty. His cases have been featured often in the national press. In 2009, he led the effort to reform the Texas Constitution in order to better strengthen protections for private property owners.

Miller is passionate about his defense of the U.S. Constitution with a particular focus on the First Amendment. He has been involved in major cases around the country, most recently in New Mexico and Colorado. In these cases, he has been fighting to protect 501 (c) non-profits and their donor lists. His presentation zeroed in on the many aspects surrounding the subject.

Miller told the audience that there have been situations in which government entities have insisted that leaders of 501 (c) non-profit organizations hand over their lists of donors. These laws have forced disclosure of not only names, but occupations, business connections of the donors and even home addresses.

Miller said the government sources defend their stance by declaring that the disclosure is for the sake of transparency. Miller stated that some judges have agreed with these governmental positions, while not acknowledging the possible repercussions. Consequentially, there had been too many cases of ideological harassment occurring.

Miller concluded his presentation by posing the question as to the government’s motives. He asked the audience whether when state legislators or town councils were to demand the publication of 501 (c) donor lists would they be thinking they would help voters be better informed or would they be attempting to suppress personal First Amendment rights?

The Goldwater Institute’s website, “In Defense of Liberty” at https://indefenseofliberty.blog/author/mmiller/ is where Miller addresses free speech issues.

All Republicans and fellow, like-minded Independents are encouraged to check the revamped Fountain Hills Republican Club website fountainhillsrepublicanclub.org or facebook.com/FountainHillsRepublicanClub/