Faith-Based Investors and Sustainability Organizations Sue Kentucky Over Law Restricting Shareholder Advocacy and Free Speech
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2026, Frankfort, Ky. — The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), United Church Funds (UCF), and Ceres filed a federal lawsuit challenging a Kentucky law that threatens their First Amendment rights. The law penalizes speech that challenges corporate leadership and speech that promotes strong long-term financial performance, and it forces organizations to communicate messages that contradict their deeply held beliefs and investment principles. The plaintiffs are represented by Democracy Forward and Tachau Meek PLC.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky against Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman, challenges Senate Bill 183 (SB 183), a law that imposes burdensome disclosure, notification, and economic analysis requirements on organizations providing research, analysis, and guidance related to shareholder voting. The law targets speech that differs from corporate leadership’s recommendations or considers certain environmental, social, political, or ideological factors, even when those considerations are central to an organization’s investment strategy and mission. And the law is unconstitutionally vague, making it impossible to say just how far it really reaches.
The plaintiffs are three nonprofit organizations that support responsible investment practices and shareholder engagement. Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) is a 55-year-old coalition of more than 300 institutional investors, including faith-based organizations, that engage with corporations to promote responsible business practices and long-term value; United Church Funds (UCF) provides investment services to more than 1,100 churches and faith-based institutions, integrating financial stewardship with religious values and a commitment to responsible investing; and Ceres works with investors and companies to address sustainability-related financial risks and opportunities, including climate change, water scarcity, and pollution.
The plaintiffs argue that SB 183 violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments by discriminating against certain viewpoints and content, compelling organizations to make statements they do not believe, and using vague language that leaves organizations uncertain about whether their activities could expose them to enforcement actions and financial penalties.
In every debate that falls within its scope, SB 183 takes management’s side. SB 183 imposes burdens on covered speakers for advice that challenges corporate management while leaving management’s own recommendations free of comparable requirements.
The law threatens the work faith-based investors and other institutional shareholders have done for decades, engaging with corporations on issues ranging from environmental sustainability and corporate governance to human rights and responsible business practices. These efforts reflect their belief that addressing such issues is essential to protecting long-term financial performance and fulfilling their responsibilities to investors and the communities they serve. Yet SB 183 threatens to undermine this work, including by requiring covered organizations to characterize certain investment advice as contrary to shareholders’ financial interests, even when they believe the opposite is true.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear vetoed SB 183 in March 2026, citing concerns raised by faith-based organizations that the legislation infringed on their First Amendment rights. The Kentucky General Assembly subsequently overrode his veto.
“We are deeply concerned that the provisions of SB 183 clearly violate fundamental First Amendment principles. A robust and dynamic economy requires honest competition and the free exchange of ideas, which are directly undermined by this law. For these reasons and in light of our longstanding mission to engage with corporations on their impacts on people and planet, we appreciate the opportunity to join this lawsuit,” said Josh Zinner, Chief Executive Officer of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility.
“In his veto message, Governor Basher said Faith-based organizations provide retirement and health care benefits to their clergy and faith workers and should be free to do so in a way that reflects their faith and teachings. We completely agree,” said Steven Rothstein, Chief Program Officer at Ceres.
“Shareholders have a right to ask questions, challenge corporate leadership, and make investment decisions guided by their values and their understanding of long-term financial risks,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “Attorney General Russell Coleman cannot use the power of the state to silence viewpoints it disagrees with or force organizations to disavow their own beliefs. The First Amendment protects the freedom to speak, to dissent, and to make independent decisions without government interference. We are going to court to protect those fundamental rights.”
The lawsuit seeks a court declaration that SB 183 is unconstitutional and an injunction preventing its enforcement.
The case is Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility et al. v. Coleman. The legal team in this case includes Sterling Moore, Sophie Gelber, Jennifer Fountain Connolly, Victoria Nugent, and Brian Netter from Democracy Forward, and Amy Cubbage from Tachau Meek PLC.
Read the filing here, and read SB 183 here.
CONTACT
Tim Smith, Senior Policy Advisor, ICCR
tsmith@iccr.org / 617-733-0086
About the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR)
The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) is a broad coalition of more than 300 institutional investors collectively representing over $4 trillion in invested capital. ICCR members, a cross-section of faith-based investors, asset managers, pension funds, foundations, and other long-term institutional investors, have over 50 years of experience engaging with companies on environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) issues that are critical to long-term value creation. ICCR members engage hundreds of corporations annually in an effort to foster greater corporate accountability. Visit our website www.iccr.org and follow us on LinkedIn, and Bsky.
