ANA Joins Other Industry Groups in U.S. Supreme Court Amicus Brief

On September 17, 2014, ANA joined with other industry groups to file an amicus (“friend of the court”) brief with the U.S. Supreme Court.  The case, Direct Marketing Association v. Brohl, (U.S. Supreme Court Docket No. 13-1032) involves a challenge to a Colorado law that requires out-of-state merchants to disclose confidential information about their Colorado customers to the state’s revenue department.

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) filed a lawsuit challenging the Colorado law, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled that the federal courts had no jurisdiction over the case because of the federal Tax Injunction Act.  That decision creates a serious restriction on the access of businesses to federal courts to challenge the constitutionality of state laws.  The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case on July 1st and will hear oral arguments on December 8th.       

The industry brief is available here.  ANA joined with the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Legal Center, NetChoice, the Electronic Retailing Association and the American Catalog Mailers Association in the brief.