Thursday, June 24, 2010

Supreme Court Rules Against Protecting R-71 Names

Print Friendly Version of this pagePrint Get a PDF version of this webpagePDF
UPDATE: James Bopp Jr. Press Release
__________

The US Supreme Court ruled this morning that the names of those who signed the R-71 petitions can be made public.

However, the names cannot be released to the homosexual activists immediately.

The final decision will rest in a lower court, in that we have the option to ask the lower court for an exemption from disclosure in this case only.

I just finished a phone conference with our attorney James Bopp Jr. and we will be going to the lower court on count 2, seeking an exemption for R-71 petition signers only.

We see releasing the names as having a very chilling effect on citizen's exercise of free speech and participation in the initiative process. Particularly in those cases where threats have been made publicly toward those who signed.

The winners in this ruling by the Supreme Court are the media and, of course, Secretary of State Sam Reed and Attorney General Rob McKenna. Supporting briefs, advocating for the release of the names, have been filed with the court by 22 news organizations and media trade associations.

This matter is not settled yet.

We will keep you posted.

Gary Randall
Faith and Freedom Network