In addition to changing the marriage debate forever, the supporters of Proposition 8 -- the 2008 ballot initiative which banned same-sex marriage in California -- attempted to change California election law, asking a judge to hide from public records the names of campaign contributors.
1 for 2 ain't bad.
A federal judge on Thursday ruled against ProtectMarriage.com and the National Organization for Marriage, who filed a lawsuit in January 2009, asking a court to exempt them from California's campaign disclosure laws, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
The two groups raised most of the $43.3 million which put Prop 8 on the November 2008 ballot, the newspaper reported. They had filed a lawsuit in January 2009 to hide the names and contribution amounts of their donors -- all of which from every campaign are published on the Secretary of State's Web site as well as on paper in Sacramento -- in order to protect their donors from harassment, they claimed.
U.S. District Judge Morrison England Jr. made his ruling from the bench and will issue a written statement later, according to San Francisco Deputy City Attorney Mollie Lee, who made the arguments against Prop 8's backers.
"The real winners here are the voters of California," Lee told the newspaper."
Attorneys for Prop 8's supporters did not comment.
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Prop 8 was declared law with 52 percent of the vote in 2008, but has since been locked up in court.
