In National Religious Broadcasters v. FCC, (5th Cir., May 19, 2025), the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Federal Communications Commission exceeded the authority granted to it by Congress when in 2024 it reinstated the requirement that broadcasters annually file Form 395-B which calls for disclosure of race, ethnicity, and gender data for employees in specified job categories. Co-plaintiff in the case was the American Family Association, a conservative Christian pro-family organization. Their suit was consolidated with a similar challenge brought by the secular Texas Association of Broadcasters. While the court's opinion does not discuss free exercise rights and avoids adjudicating plaintiffs' free speech arguments, a Press Release by National Religious Broadcasters after the 5th Circuit's decision was handed down focuses on 1st Amendment concerns, saying in part:
NRB has always fought to protect Christian communicators from baseless attempts to restrict their First Amendment liberties which hinder their work of proclaiming the Gospel. This ruling helps ensure that the government cannot create a backdoor to control broadcasters through public intimidation, misuse private data against them, or interfere with the sacred and constitutionally protected mission of religious broadcasters.
