The Supreme Court, Campaign Finance & Petition Secrecy

There’s a great post, which poses a great question on one the more thought-provoking and fair political blogs (and I’m not saying that sarcastically) Cup o’ Joel which addresses the Supreme Court’s decision to block the names of those who signed the petition in Washington to overturn the state’s “everything but marriage” bill.

According to the post:

Back in October, my conservative collaborator Ben Boychuk made the argument that voters will be fine if corporations are allowed to spend unlimited money in elections because, hey, we can all see what’s going on:

Transparency and instant Internet disclosure make most of the old objections and warnings about quid pro quo corruption irrelevant. If a political candidate receives the financial aid of large corporations, and public knows about it, then the question of undue influence falls to the voters to resolve. As it should be.

Theoretically, this sounds great. In reality, though, there’s a good chance that transparency itself is going to become extinct.

Why do I say this? Because the Supreme Court is being asked to rule that petition signers — 138,000 people who asked Washington State to hold a referendum to overturn the state’s law allowing domestic partnerships for gays — have a First Amendment right not to have their names made public. The court has blocked the release of those names until it rules on the case.

The rationale for blocking transparency? Gay marriage opponents don’t really want to be criticized. They’d like to be able to use government to deprive other citizens of rights without having to be made to feel uncomfortable about it.

Voters ratified the law, but the conservative Christian groups that sponsored it want to keep the signed petitions that asked for the referendum out of public view because they fear harassment from gay-rights supporters, some of whom have vowed to post the names of petition signers on the Internet.

“We are pleased that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear this case that seeks to protect the rights of citizens who support a traditional definition of marriage to speak freely and without fear,” said James Bopp, Jr., lawyer for Protect Marriage Washington. “No citizen should ever worry that they will be threatened or injured because they have exercised their right to engage in the political process.”

So here’s my question: If the Supreme Court says that petitioners have a First Amendment right to keep their names private while supporting a public campaign, why on Earth wouldn’t that rationale also apply to people (and corporations) who donate to campaigns? Maybe there’s a good legal distinction, but I can’t think of one right now.

I have to agree with Joel…What IS the difference?