Illinois ex rel. Madigan v. Telemarketing Associates, Inc., 538 U.S. 600, 7 (2003)

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606

ILLINOIS ex rel. MADIGAN v. TELEMARKETING

ASSOCIATES, INC.

Opinion of the Court

raising effort," which was conducted primarily "for the private pecuniary benefit of" the fundraisers, id., at 9, ¶ 35.

The question presented is whether those allegations state a claim for relief that can survive a motion to dismiss. In accord with the Illinois trial and appellate courts, the Illinois Supreme Court held they did not. That court was "mindful of the opportunity for public misunderstanding and the potential for donor confusion which may be presented with fund-raising solicitations of the sort involved in th[is] case," Ryan v. Telemarketing Associates, Inc., 198 Ill. 2d 345, 363, 763 N. E. 2d 289, 299 (2001); it nevertheless concluded that threshold dismissal of the complaint was compelled by this Court's decisions in Schaumburg v. Citizens for a Better Environment, 444 U. S. 620 (1980), Secretary of State of Md. v. Joseph H. Munson Co., 467 U. S. 947 (1984), and Riley v. National Federation of Blind of N. C., Inc., 487 U. S. 781 (1988). Those decisions held that certain regulations of charitable subscriptions, barring fees in excess of a prescribed level, effectively imposed prior restraints on fund-raising, and were therefore incompatible with the First Amendment.

We reverse the judgment of the Illinois Supreme Court. Our prior decisions do not rule out, as supportive of a fraud claim against fundraisers, any and all reliance on the percentage of charitable donations fundraisers retain for themselves. While bare failure to disclose that information directly to potential donors does not suffice to establish fraud, when nondisclosure is accompanied by intentionally misleading statements designed to deceive the listener, the First Amendment leaves room for a fraud claim.

I

Defendants below, respondents here, Telemarketing Associates, Inc., and Armet, Inc., are Illinois for-profit fundraising corporations wholly owned and controlled by defendant-respondent Richard Troia. 198 Ill. 2d, at 347-348, 763

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