Yesterday, if you recall, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker ordered gay marriage advocacy groups to turn over campaign materials from the election fight over Prop 8, California's ban on same-sex marriage. Walker also ordered the foes of marriage rights to turn over campaign material and documents as well. The American Civil Liberties Union, though, is not pleased and plan on appealing Walker's former order.
In part of this statement by ACLU of Northern California, staff attorney Elizabeth Gill said:
As we've seen by the passage of Prop 8, which stripped same sex couples of their Constitutional right to marry, LGBT people and their supporters are especially vulnerable in the initiative process. We need to be able to plan and strategize without being afraid that our emails and other communications will someday have to be turned over to our opponents
And:
It might make sense to force people to turn over emails to prove a violation of the constitution. But no one is claiming—or could claim—that what the No on 8 committees said or did violated the constitution. We believe the court is wrong on the law and intend to appeal the matter to the federal appeals court
However, as a few SFist commenter pointed out yesterday, if onie side is going to ask for full disclosure from one side, the other side must be "ready to demonstrate that openness" as well..
