Federal Court Says No to Yes on 8 Backers

A California
federal court on Thursday denied the request of Proposition
8 backers to block access to the names and addresses of
36,000 people who donated money in support of the
gay marriage ban.

The two groups
that headed the effort, ProtectMarriage.com and the National Organization for Marriage
California, went to court with the claim that
donors have been the target of threats, vandalism, and
public protests. The court upheld the state's
35-year-old Political Reform Act, which makes the identities
of those giving $100 or more to ballot initiatives
or politicians a matter of public record.

U.S. district
judge Morrison England Jr. ruled that California's campaign
disclosure laws protect the public, especially during
expensive initiative campaigns, by keeping the donor
information public. With obscure names funding the
campaigns for ballot initiatives, the public would not
be able to identify the key players without such disclosure,
he said.

"If there ever
needs to be sunshine on a political issue, it is with
a ballot measure," England said, according to the Associated
Press.

Name disclosure,
said Yes on 8 co-manager Frank Schubert, may prevent
opponents of gay marriage from further funding such
initiatives in California. Attorneys for the state,
however, questioned this assertion. According to court
records, only one of the nine people mentioned in the
suit as being harassed actually donated to the campaign. The
other eight worked as volunteers, spoke at
campaign rallies, or displayed yard signs and bumper
stickers. The state said the harassing activities that
plaintiffs brought up, such as boycotts, were
constitutionally protected forms of expression.

The disclosure
became a more pertinent issue after an
interactive map was created showing the homes
of those who made donations. The identity of the
map's creator is not known.

James Bopp, one
of the attorneys representing the groups, attempted to
stop the state from disclosing the names of those who
donated at least $100, as larger-scale donors have
already been identified, according to National Public
Radio. He also wants all donor lists for the
organizations removed from government records. The state is
set to release a report identifying late donors
Monday.

"It's just hard
to believe that anyone, if this information had been
available before the election, would care that Joe Blow had
given $100 to a multimillion-dollar initiative
campaign," Bopp told NPR.

Atty. Gen. Jerry
Brown and Secretary of State Debra Bowen have both
stated that people should file criminal reports if they
experience harassment rather than carving "out a
special privilege of anonymity for themselves alone."

Brown added, in a
January 22 statement, that Prop. 8 supporters "are a
well-financed association of individuals who raised $30
million in support of a ballot measure that received
52.3 percent of the vote. There is no risk that
disclosure of donors will harm their ability to organize
or otherwise pursue their political views."

While the
Thursday ruling prevents the antigay groups from
obtaining a preliminary injunction against the release
of names, the matter is likely to go through appeals,
according to AP. The suit was filed in federal court
rather than state because it raised First Amendment
issues, said Richard Coleson, another attorney for the
groups. (Michelle Garcia, Advocate.com)