Today the Supreme Court hears arguments in Doe v. Reed. The case is about "mandatory disclosure"—that is, whether the state of Washington may publicly release the names and addresses of citizens who signed a petition to place a referendum on domestic partnership legislation on the ballot.

The case puts at risk core constitutional values such as free speech and privacy. And given the stakes, neither the justices nor the public should be swayed by widely held assumptions about mandatory disclosure that are not in fact true....