Today our firm filed an amicus brief for the Free Speech Defense and Education Fund, the Free Speech Coalition, and 28 other nonprofit and for profit organizations in the case of Doe v. Reed, in the United States Supreme Court.
The brief argues that, contrary to what the state of Washington claims,freedom of speech principles do indeed apply to the Washington state referendum petition process. Moreover, anonymity for referendum petition signers in that state legislative process is protected from state abridgment by the14th amendment as an individual privilege and immunity of United States citizenship secured under the republican form of government guarantee of Article IV, Section 4 of the United States Constitution.
The brief also explains that the forced disclosure of the names and addresses of the Referendum 71 petition signers violates the anonymity rights of the people — who are sovereign in our system of government. The brief concludes with a primer on the law of anonymity as a guide to the Court’s application of the anonymity principle in this new situation.
The brief was filed on behalf of: The Abraham Lincoln Foundation for Public Policy Research, Inc., American Conservative Union, American Target Advertising, Inc., Citizens in Charge Foundation, Citizens United, Citizens United Foundation, ClearWord Communications Group, Inc., Conservative Legal Defense and Education Fund, The Constitution Party National Committee, Downsize DC Foundation, DownsizeDC.org, Eberle & Associates, Inc., English First, English First Foundation, Free Speech Coalition, Inc., The Free Speech Defense and Education Fund, Inc., Gun Owners Foundation, Gun Owners of America, Inc., Institute on the Constitution, Law Enforcement Alliance of America, Inc., The Lincoln Institute for Research and Education, National Right to Work Legal Defense and Education Foundation, Inc., Production Solutions, Inc., Public Advocate of the United States, The Richard Norman Company, 60 Plus Association, U.S. Border Control, U.S. Border Control Foundation, U.S. Justice Foundation, and Young America’s Foundation.