Supreme Court Hears Arguments On Release of Names of Petition Signers

The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday heard oral arguments in Doe v. Reed, (full transcript of arguments). At issue is whether the right to anonymous political speech was infringed when Washington state, under its Public Records Law, released the names of those who signed a petition seeking a referendum on the state's domestic partnership law. The 9th Circuit found no First Amendment problem with the release. (See prior posting.) The New York Times says that the First Amendment arguments were met with skepticism from justices across the ideological spectrum. Justice Scalia remarked: "running a democracy takes a certain amount of civic courage."