Supreme Court Won't Hear NOM's Latest Appeal on Donor Disclosure

The court let stand a ruling that the names of Proposition 8's financial backers must remain public record.

The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear the appeal of a ruling mandating disclosure of the names of donors to the campaign to pass Proposition 8 in California.

The court Monday let stand a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit which determined that the National Organization for Marriage, ProtectMarriage.com, and other backers of Prop. 8 had to make donors’ names publicly available, the Associated Press reports.

The anti–marriage equality organizations had claimed donors might be subject to harassment, so they sought to conceal the names of past and future contributors. However, the Ninth Circuit had noted that these names had been available since 2008, when Prop. 8 went on the California ballot. “State law requires political committees to identify those who contribute more than $100 during or after a campaign, along with the donor’s address, occupation and employer,” the AP notes.

Prop. 8, which amended California’s constitution to temporarily revoke marriage equality, was passed by voters in 2008 but struck down five years later after a series of court rulings.

In 2012, the Supreme Court denied another NOM appeal, involving a case in which it had sought to avoid revealing the names of donors to its 2009 campaign to repeal Maine’s marriage equality law. Maine ended up imposing a record fine on NOM for its nondisclosure. The group also fought unsuccessfully to evade disclosure requirements in Rhode Island, Minnesota, and Washington State.