Anti-gay marriage donors must be public

January 29, 2009 - 8:52pm — Rolf

SACRAMENTO — A federal judge today denied a request to keep the names of donors to California's anti-gay marriage initiative secret, saying the public has a right to know who's giving money to state ballot measures.

Supporters of the initiative, which was approved by voters in November, had sought a preliminary injunction to hide the identities of those who contributed to their campaign.

They had asked the judge to block disclosure of late donors, who gave in the final weeks of the campaign or shortly after the election. The state is scheduled to release that report on Monday.

They also asked him to order the state to remove the names of all contributors to Proposition 8 that already had been posted on the secretary of state's Web site.

U.S. District Judge Morrison England Jr. sided with the state. In his ruling from the bench, England said California's campaign disclosure laws are intended to protect the public and are especially important during expensive initiative campaigns.

"If there ever needs to be sunshine on a political issue, it is with a ballot measure," England said.

He said many campaign committees have vague names, obscuring their intent. The public would have no way of knowing who is behind the campaigns unless they can see who's giving money, he said.

Read the complete story at MercuryNews.com