Published: Saturday, January 16, 2010
U.S. Supreme Court to hear arguments on petition privacy
The U.S. Supreme Court will decide if the state can legally release the names of voters who sign petitions.
OLYMPIA — The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear arguments on whether names of the 138,000 people who signed petitions for Referendum 71 should be kept secret.
Justices expedited proceedings in the case and could hear arguments in April.
“It’s great news. It answers the prayers of people from all over the state and the country,” said Larry Stickney of Arlington, leader of Protect Marriage Washington which sponsored the November ballot measure that sought unsuccessfully to overturn a state law expanding rights of same-sex couples and domestic partners.
Protect Marriage Washington, which asked the high court to hear the case, contends the Constitution provides people a right to not have their names publicized when they sign a petition if doing so would make them a target for harassment by political opponents.
Stickney said that he and others received threats by phone and e-mail during the signature-gathering process. The group’s lawyers had said a Seattle group’s pledge to post the names online made it likely many more signers would be harassed.
“We’re hoping for a powerful decision on behalf of the people, one that will not be limited to the state of Washington but that will apply to the nation to rein in this type of intimidation of those who would participate in the process,” he said.
State lawyers counter that the petitions are public records and allow the public to know who is behind ballot measures.
Secretary of State Sam Reed said Friday he wasn’t surprised the court accepted the case and is looking forward to have the state’s policies examined.
“We firmly believe that participating in the initiative and referendum process is a public act of citizen legislating, with disclosure of petitions required under the framework of our Public Records Act, and that it can be done without violating voters’ constitutional rights,” he said in a prepared statement.
In September, U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle ruled that releasing the petition names would violate constitutional rights of petition signers.
A month later, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that ruling, allowing release of the names. Within days — and before any names were publicized — Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy interceded to block disclosure until the full court could decide if it wanted to accept the case.
In November, voters passed Referendum 71, upholding the 2009 law giving registered domestic partnerships the same rights, benefits and obligations of married couples. The law applies to same-sex couples and couples in which one partner is at least 62 years of age.
The law has since gone into effect and will not be affected by the court decision.
Friday’s announcement came shortly before a state legislative committee held public hearings on two bills related to this controversy.
Lawmakers heard testimony on House Bill 2418 to make names and addresses of people signing initiative or referendum petitions public records that can be copied and distributed.
They also considered House Bill 2612 to bar release of that information. Rep. Dan Kristiansen, R-Snohomish, whose 39th District includes Arlington, is one of the bill’s sponsors.
The House State Government and Tribal Affairs Committee took no action Friday and is not expected to pursue either measure until the legal fight is concluded.
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
Justices expedited proceedings in the case and could hear arguments in April.
“It’s great news. It answers the prayers of people from all over the state and the country,” said Larry Stickney of Arlington, leader of Protect Marriage Washington which sponsored the November ballot measure that sought unsuccessfully to overturn a state law expanding rights of same-sex couples and domestic partners.
Protect Marriage Washington, which asked the high court to hear the case, contends the Constitution provides people a right to not have their names publicized when they sign a petition if doing so would make them a target for harassment by political opponents.
Stickney said that he and others received threats by phone and e-mail during the signature-gathering process. The group’s lawyers had said a Seattle group’s pledge to post the names online made it likely many more signers would be harassed.
“We’re hoping for a powerful decision on behalf of the people, one that will not be limited to the state of Washington but that will apply to the nation to rein in this type of intimidation of those who would participate in the process,” he said.
State lawyers counter that the petitions are public records and allow the public to know who is behind ballot measures.
Secretary of State Sam Reed said Friday he wasn’t surprised the court accepted the case and is looking forward to have the state’s policies examined.
“We firmly believe that participating in the initiative and referendum process is a public act of citizen legislating, with disclosure of petitions required under the framework of our Public Records Act, and that it can be done without violating voters’ constitutional rights,” he said in a prepared statement.
In September, U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle ruled that releasing the petition names would violate constitutional rights of petition signers.
A month later, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that ruling, allowing release of the names. Within days — and before any names were publicized — Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy interceded to block disclosure until the full court could decide if it wanted to accept the case.
In November, voters passed Referendum 71, upholding the 2009 law giving registered domestic partnerships the same rights, benefits and obligations of married couples. The law applies to same-sex couples and couples in which one partner is at least 62 years of age.
The law has since gone into effect and will not be affected by the court decision.
Friday’s announcement came shortly before a state legislative committee held public hearings on two bills related to this controversy.
Lawmakers heard testimony on House Bill 2418 to make names and addresses of people signing initiative or referendum petitions public records that can be copied and distributed.
They also considered House Bill 2612 to bar release of that information. Rep. Dan Kristiansen, R-Snohomish, whose 39th District includes Arlington, is one of the bill’s sponsors.
The House State Government and Tribal Affairs Committee took no action Friday and is not expected to pursue either measure until the legal fight is concluded.
Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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