Supreme Court Decision Expected Soon on R71

The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing whether the names of those who signed a petition to roll back gay rights in Washington State can be released. The decision is expected Thursday or Monday.

The case involves R-71, a 2009 ballot initiative that could have rescinded expanded domestic-partnership rights in Washington. Voters narrowly decided to keep the new rights, which had been approved by the state legislature, but there is still a push to make public the 138,000 names of those who endorsed putting the issue before voters. The case bounced between courts before landing in the Supreme Court.

David Ammons, spokesman for Secretary of State Sam Reed, told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that the court now has 11 cases left to decide this term. Thursday and June 28 are the next days scheduled for release of rulings, and it's likely the R-71 opinion will be issued one of those days, Ammons said.

"It's possible, but not likely, that the case could be pushed off to the next term," Ammons told the newspaper in an e-mail.

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