Protect Marriage Washington’s last ditch effort to to prevent the Washington Secretary of State from releasing more copies of the Referendum 71 petitions to the public has FAILED.
In October, Federal District Court Judge Benjamin Settle, a George W. Bush appointee, ruled in their case Doe v. Reed that PMW was not entitled to an exemption from the Public Records Act and that therefore the Referendum 71 petitions they submitted to the state must be made available to the public by the Secretary of State. The Secretary of States Office began releasing the petitions and the signatories names and PMW in a last ditch effort filed emergency motions for injunctions after the fact to stop the release of names. Which hated it temporarily
But now The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has declared that order MOOT.
Appellants have renewed their emergency motion for an injunction pending appeal under Ninth Circuit Rule 27-3. They seek to enjoin the Washington Secretary of State from further releasing the R-71 petitions, the Intervenors from distributing the petitions, and the district court from further disclosing the identity of Protect Marriage Washington’s John Doe parties and witnesses in the district court’s unredacted order. Because the court preliminarily believes that the appeal is moot due to the release of R-71 petitions, appellants’ renewed emergency motion for an injunction pending appeal is denied.