SACRAMENTO (AP) Major contributors to the campaign for
Proposition 54, the so-called racial privacy initiative, will
remain secret, as a Sacramento judge ruled Friday to deny a request
by the state's political watchdog to have the names disclosed.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Thomas Cecil ruled that the Fair
Political Practices Commission failed to make a strong enough case
that voters will suffer if they don't know who provided the
financial muscle behind Proposition 54 before the Oct. 7 election.
In a clear setback to the FPPC, Cecil said donors to the group
that financed the campaign could suffer worse potential harm from
an invasion of their privacy.
The FPPC sought court action to force University of California
Regent Ward Connerly and his American Civil Rights Coalition to
name donors behind Proposition 54 before the election. The FPPC
charged that Connerly is violating state campaign finance law by
not reporting the sources of $1.9 million that provided most of the
initiative's financial support.
Cecil's ruling Friday was not the final say on the matter, as
the FPPC said it would appeal. Representatives of the commission,
formed to monitor California campaign spending after the 1970s
Watergate scandal, but said victory after the election would bring
only fines.
``I think we'll win our case. It's just that voters won't have
disclosure before the election,'' said FPPC chairwoman Liane
Randolph.
That could change if the election is delayed until March. But
Friday, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to reconsider
its Monday decision by a three-judge panel to delay the election.
Connerly's forces claimed ``vindication'' for their claim that
naming donors would subject them to harassment by opponents of
Proposition 54, which would ban public agencies from collecting and
using many types of racial data. Connerly said contributors to his
1996 initiative campaign, Proposition 209 to ban affirmative action
in California, were harassed.
Charles Bell, Connerly's attorney, called the FPPC suit
``outrageous,'' adding that Cecil's ruling Friday was clear that
donors to the civil rights coalition weren't necessarily donating
to Proposition 54. That, Bell said, exempts them from campaign
reporting requirements.
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On the Net: Read the FPPC complaint at http://www.fppc.ca.gov
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)