“The US Supreme Court will take up a First Amendment challenge to a court order to release the names of people who signed a petition to repeal Washington State’s same-sex domestic partnership law. Boxes filled with signatures for Referendum 71 line the walls in a basement at the Secretary of State’s Office in Olympia, Wash. Whether petition signers’ names should be available to the public has become an issue for the US Supreme Court to decide. On Friday, the justices agreed to enter the divisive dispute and decide whether the names of petition signers must be released under a state public records law or instead must be kept private to protect the signers’ right to engage in political speech and political association.” (01/17/10)