On December 7, Washington state filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in Doe v Reed, 09-559, asking the Court not to hear the case. The issue is whether the names and addresses of people who sign petitions should be made public. The Court will consider whether to hear the case at its conference on January 8, 2010.
The state’s brief says that the state interest in releasing the names and addresses is to let people review the work of the Secretary of State. In other words, if the Secretary of State says the petition has enough valid signatures, opponents of the petition might wish to contest the Secretary of State’s finding.
The brief also says that the signatures aren’t really private anyway, since if they are circulated in public (for instance, on the street) anyway can see who signed the sheet that is on display.
Finally, the brief says that if the petition’s opponents can’t learn who signed, that wouldn’t be fair, because the proponents of the petition are permitted to see who signed. The brief mentions that in California, the names and addresses of petition signers are not public information, and that even the proponents of a petition are not permitted to see their own petition, after it has been submitted. So, at least California is symmetrical, and denies the information to both sides.
Any petitions out there calling for —
Having an Obama or Bush II emperor hereditary regime take over the U.S.A. forever — with wiping out all legislative bodies ???
Bringing back the British monarchy to control the U.S.A. — i.e. to repeal the 1776 Declaration of Independence and ask for mercy from the British monarch ???
Bringing back slavery ???
Abolishing the right to vote for women and/or non-whites ???
Repealing all Bills of Rights — U.S.A. and in the States ???
Any more HOT button petitions with videotapes of each person signing any such petitions ???
How many of the folks who signed petitions in 1761-1776 complaining about the EVIL rotten King George III regime and the regime’s party hacks in the colonies got —
ARRESTED or even KILLED
after the guns went off on 19 Apr 1775 – Battles of Lexington and Concord ???
Did any body DARE to circulate a petition in the slave States in 1860 calling for the peaceful repeal of slavery in such States ???
Any CANDIDATE petitions being circulated for candidates who are clones of Stalin, Hitler, Saddam, Genghis Khan, etc. ???
Attention clueless folks — the EVIL extremist gerrymander party hacks in Deficit City are playing for PERMANENT control of the U.S.A. — and now appear quite willing to become just as EVIL rotten as the old King George III regime.
See the 1969-1974 old Prez Nixon *enemies* lists and the earlier McCarthy stuff in the 1950s — BEFORE large scale computerized stuff came along.
Sign the *politically INCORRECT* petition and things happen to your life, liberty and/or property ???
A reminder – some of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were killed and/or had their property destroyed by the EVIL King George III regime.
Signing stuff DOES have effects — especially now with armies of leftwing / rightwing party hacks looking at a zillion records of computerized stuff.