On September 10, U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle, a Bush, Jr. appointee, granted a preliminary injunction, keeping the names and addresses of signers of a referendum petition from being placed in the public record, at least while the case is decided. In order to grant the injunction, the judge had to determine that the plaintiffs (who favor secrecy) are likely to win the case. Here is the decision, which is called John Doe #1 v Reed, C09-5456.

The judge said, “The Court is not persuaded that waiver of one’s fundamental right to anonymous political speech is a prerequisite for participation in Washington’s referendum process…The referral of a referendum is protected political speech, which includes the component of the right to speak anonymously…the Public Records Act is not narrowly tailored to achieve the compelling governmental interest of preserving the integrity of the referendum process.” Thanks to Paul Jacob for this news. Nothing in the decision indicates that the issue turned on the fact that this particular referendum petition is highly controversial. The logic of the decision would apply to all petitions.