Other LanguagesIn his concurrence in Doe v. Reed, Justice Scalia powerfully opined on the question of hiding initiative or referenda signatures from public view:
There are laws against threats and intimidation; and harsh criticism, short of unlawful action, is a price our people have traditionally been willing to pay for self governance. Requiring people to stand up in public for their political acts fosters civic courage, without which democracy is doomed. For my part, I do not look forward to a society which, thanks to the Supreme Court, campaigns anonymously (McIntyre) and even exercises the direct democracy of initiative and referendum hidden from public scrutiny and protected from the accountability of criticism. This does not resemble the Home of the Brave.
See AG McKenna and Secretary of State Sam Reed talk about the case - and observe a very handsome man in the background, as he fiddles with a digital recorder - here.
-Dan Sytman-