Preserving Marriage, Protecting Families

May 5, 2010

On behalf of the Protect Marriage Washington legal team, I want to take a moment to give you an update about the case to protect the identities of the good men and women that signed the petition to place R-71 on the November ballot.

As many of you are aware, Larry Stickney and the legal team traveled to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, April 28, to present the case to the Supreme Court of the United States.

While it is often difficult to predict how the Supreme Court will rule based on the questions asked during oral argument, I will offer some general thoughts. James Bopp, Jr. argued the case on behalf of Protect Marriage Washington, and it was obvious that he was prepared to handle the tough questions asked by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court also appeared very concerned about how uncivil the debate surrounding same-sex marriage has become, a debate that has included death threats and property damage directed at supporters of traditional marriage. Because of this, we are very optimistic that the Supreme Court will rule in favor of protecting petition signers when it issues its opinion later this summer.

The papers are reporting that the Supreme Court is likely to rule in favor of Washington and release of the petitions. The predictions are based upon a series of tough questions asked by a single Supreme Court Justice. As I mentioned before, it is difficult to predict how the Supreme Court may rule, and a Justice sometimes votes differently than you would expect based upon the types of questions asked during oral argument. I ask you to remain hopeful that the Supreme Court will rule in favor of Protect Marriage Washington.

Finally, the case is not over even if the Supreme Court rules against Protect Marriage Washington. The Supreme Court was asked only to decide if all referendum petitions are exempt from public disclosure. If the Supreme Court votes against Protect Marriage Washington, the case will return to Washington so that the trial court can consider whether the R-71 petitions should be exempt from disclosure because of the potential for retaliation against traditional marriage supporters. The Supreme Court would likely extend its protective order to ensure that the names are not released while the trial court is considering this question.

Win or lose, we need your help to continue this fight. The next step in the case will rely heavily upon the threats and intimidation directed at supporters of R-71 and a traditional definition of marriage. It is important that we document each and every effort by the same-sex marriage supporters to intimidate others, even if you personally perceive an incident to be relatively minor.

If you, or someone you know, has been the target of harassment for supporting R-71 or a traditional definition of marriage, please call Sarah Troupis at the law firm of Bopp, Coleson, & Bostrom, at (812) 232-2434, or email her at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

I also ask for your continued prayers for Larry, his family, everyone at Protect Marriage Washington and the Washington Values Alliance, and the 138,000 men and women that signed the R-71 petition.

Thank you,
-Scott F. Bieniek
Bopp, Coleson & Bostrom