9th Circuit Issues Opinion on Release of Names of Referendum Petition Signers

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has now released its opinion in John Doe #1 v. Reed, (9th Cir., Oct. 22, 2009), explaining its order issued last week clearing the way for release of the names of those who signed referendum petitions in Washington state seeking review of the state's domestic partnership law. (See prior posting.) The court held that applying Washington state's Public Records Law to the referendum petitions does not violate the 1st Amendment right to anonymous political speech. It said that the signatures on the petitions are not anonymous. It concluded further that the district court was incorrect in applying strict scrutiny, saying that petition signing should be seen as "expressive conduct" subject to intermediate scrutiny. The state's asserted interests in preserving the integrity of the election and furnishing voters information about who supported placing a referendum on the ballot were found to be sufficiently important to justify their incidental limitation on speech. The incidental effect was found no greater than necessary to carry out the state's goals. [Thanks to Eugene Volokh for the lead.]