Washington State Stops Releasing Names Of Those Who Signed Anti-Gay Referendum 71 Petition Pending Federal Appeal; 30 DVDs Containing Signatures Have Been Released Since Monday

Pending a Monday hearing by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the Secretary of State's Office in Washington has stopped releasing Referendum 71 petition names to the public after a religious conservative group filed an emergency motion with the court. The Seattle Times reports that the decision follows a Monday ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle that Protect Marriage Washington had failed to prove that the 137,500 signers of Referendum 71 petitions would be subject to harassment if their names were released. Referendum 71 was a failed attempt by Protect Marriage two years ago to repeal the expansion of Washington's domestic partnership law. Voters retained the law, 53-percent to 47-percent. Calling Monday's ruling by Settle a "dramatic setback to the right of privacy in the state of Washington," Protect Marriage immediately filed a notice to appeal. The Secretary of State, which lauded the decision as a victory for transparency, began releasing DVDs of the petition signatures within hours of the ruling. By the end of the day Thursday it had already released 30 DVDs — with two pending, spokesman David Ammons said. On the advice of the Attorney General, he said, the Secretary of State will suspend any further release until the court considers the emergency motion on Monday, he said. Representing the state, the Attorney General's office is preparing a brief today in which attorneys will ask the appeals court to permit continued release of the records, noting that a number of DVDs are already in public circulation. Attorneys for Protect Marriage Washington have until the end of today to submit a rebuttal. This latest development continues a 26-month legal battle between the Secretary of State and Protect Marriage Washington over these petitions. The group first sought to block release of the petitions in 2009 after a gay-rights activist announced he would post the names and addresses of those who signed petitions on a searchable database. Settle granted a preliminary injunction, sealing the Referendum 71 petitions. The case reached the U.S. Supreme Court in a year before being remanded back to Settle. The state has maintained all along that referenda, like initiatives, need to remain available to the public for the sake of transparency. In court documents and in arguments before the judge, Protect Marriage pointed to harassment and threats against those who support traditional marriage — including hostile fallout in California after voters repealed gay marriage three years ago under Proposition 8.