Preserving Marriage, Protecting Families

Bopp, Coleson & Bostrom
1 South 6th Street
Terre Haute, IN 47807-3510

PRESS RELEASE
Friday, September 11, 2009
Contact: James Bopp, Jr.
Phone: 812/232-2434; Fax: 812/235-3685; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Court Stops Release of Petition Signers in Washington: Court Enters Order Preventing the Secretary of State from Releasing Copies of the Referendum 71 Petition

Yesterday, a United States District Court Judge entered an order preventing the Washington Secretary of State from releasing the names of people who have signed a referendum petition, seeking to protect traditional marriage in Washington.  This order will stop several groups from using the petitions to harass and intimidate individuals who were merely exercising their First Amendment right to sign a petition.

Protect Marriage Washington asked the Court to prevent the release of the names of the petition signers, arguing that the First Amendment allows them to sign a petition without having to publicly release their names, and the Court agreed.  Protect Marriage Washington provided the Court with many instances where people who support traditional marriage have had their property destroyed, received harassing phone calls, and even been subject to death threats, merely because of their support for traditional marriage.

James Bopp, Jr., lead counsel for the Plaintiffs stated, "The federal court has taken a welcome step toward protecting citizens who simply want to participate in our democratic process and have their public policy positions considered by the people. No one should have to suffer vandalism and death threats just because they support government protection of traditional marriage. Keeping the petition signatures confidential will protect these people from the harassment and intimidation that has now so frequently characterized the response of the gay rights lobby."

The Washington Secretary of State argued that the names had to be released because of the Washington Public Records Act.  The groups who sought the release of the names of the petition signers under this Act included several groups who wished to place the petitions on the internet, so that people could easily access the names and addresses of those who signed the petition in order to threaten, harass, and intimidate those individuals.

This situation in Washington is part of a larger, concerted campaign of harassment and intimidation of supporters of traditional marriage by the gay rights lobby. The campaign has involved gaining access to the names of pro-marriage supporters, posting their names and addresses on the Internet, and inviting people to contact them. This has triggered hundreds of cases of harassment, vandalism and threats of violence directed at marriage supporters throughout the nation.  Such personal attacks occurred in large numbers after the adoption of Proposition 8 in California last November.

The order preventing the release of the names of the petition signers will remain in effect until the Court makes a permanent ruling.

The case is before the Honorable Judge Benjamin H. Settle in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, at Tacoma. The case number is 3:09-cv-05456-BHS. Attorney Stephen Pidgeon (Bellevue, WA), an Alliance Defense Fund Allied Attorney, is serving as local counsel in the case.