Federal Judge Enjoins Implementation of Section 11 of STOCK Act

This afternoon, Judge Alexander Williams of the District Court in Maryland issued a preliminary injunction against implementation of Section 11 of the STOCK Act, which would require publication of the financial disclosure forms of 28,000 senior executive officials on the Internet.  The suit was brought by the Senior Executives Association and several other organizations (represented by Pillsbury Madison and the ACLU).  Judge Williams found that plaintiffs had shown a likelihood of success on the merits of their claim that publication of the financial disclosure forms would violate the executives' constitutional right to privacy of their financial information.  His opinion quotes extensively from our letter of 14 senior former national security officials to  congressional leaders arguing that Section 11 jeopardizes the national security and the safety of national security officials and their families.  Judge Williams goes on to say:

"the financial information the Act subjects to disclosure is quite sensitive. Furthermore, the data’s publication portends substantial harm seeing that it stands to affect such a large swath of senior executives. The vehicle ofdisclosure, cyberspace, exacerbates these risks because it optimizes the accessibility and transferability of the information. Finally, the Act applies to many military, law enforcement, and diplomatic positions. As the senior security officials’ letter highlights, these positions maybe acutely vulnerable to the misuse of such financial information. At this stage in the litigation, these interests outweigh the United States’ compelling interest in combating conflicts of interest and corruption."