Judge: Prop 8 Campaign Must Release Campaign Data

In a ruling that will cause the freepers and Christo-fascists and Mormons to go berserk, a federal judge has ruled that the sponsors of California's same-sex marriage ban must hand over some internal campaign records to lawyers seeking to overturn the voter-enacted initiative. I suspect that such records will (1) possibly reveal improprieties and campaign law violations, (2) violations of IRS laws by the Mormon and Catholic Churches, and (3) expose the names of bigots who prefer to hide their bigotry since they lack the courage to publicly stand behind measures that strip other citizens of legal rights - much like the anonymous commenters I encounter on this blog (and whom I do not publish because of their cowardice). I fully believe in full disclosure of campaign contributors and believe that groups should not be able to bundle donations so as to hide the identity of contributors from the public. Here are some highlights from the San Francisco Chronicle:

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Denying a request to shield the information, U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker said the Protect Marriage campaign had failed to show that providing private e-mails, memos and reports would inhibit the political activities of gay marriage opponents or subject them to unbridled harassment.

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The judge agreed with lawyers for two unmarried same-sex couples who have sued to strike down the ban, known as Proposition 8, that confidential communications between the campaign's leaders and professional consultants could reveal a rationale for denying gays the right to wed that is relevant to the case. The lawsuit argues that the measure was motivated by hostility toward gays and as such must be struck down as inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equality.

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"What was decided not to be said in a political campaign may cast light on what was actually said," Walker said. At the same time, the judge said the couples' lawyers must limit their fact-finding request to cover only central issues and individuals, including Mormon and Catholic church representatives who served on the executive committee that oversaw the campaign. He also left open the possibility that he would restrict public access to the documents.

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An example of the kind of information the plaintiffs are seeking is discussions showing that the campaign decided against running ads stating that marriage must be reserved to a man and a woman to foster responsible parenting since that is an argument Protect Marriage's lawyers are making now to uphold Proposition 8, Dusseault said.

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Depending on how and when the internal information is disseminated, its contents could revive the hostility some gay marriage supporters directed at Proposition 8's financial donors after the ballot initiative passed in November.

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I suspect we already know the reasons behind the Prop. 8 campaign: animus towards gays and unconstitutional religious based discrimination. And again, if one doesn't have the guts to publicly support a measure such as Prop. 8, then maybe they need to rethink their support for the measure. The law should not shield bigots from public view.