Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Judge: Group must disclose donors

|
|
 
  
Published: July 10, 2008 at 10:45 PM

SEATTLE, July 10 (UPI) -- A federal judge in Washington state has ruled that a group opposed to assisted suicide must identify those who have given money for its radio ads.

U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour ruled Wednesday that Human Life of Washington must obey state election laws while its legal challenge to those laws is pending, the Seattle Times reported.

Advocates of physician-assisted suicide are gathering signatures to place a referendum, Initiative 1000, on the ballot. The group argues that if its ads to not mention the initiative, they are issue advocacy and not election ads.

The state says that voters have a right to know who is funding the commercials.

"Washington voters have a right to follow the money in political campaigns," said Linda Dalton, a senior assistant attorney general.

Coughenour said that he balanced the chance the group might succeed in its suit, which he found to be small, against the damage done by forcing it to reveal the names of donors.

Topics: John Coughenour
© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
The Tibetan Moniam Festival in China Super Bowl XLVI ticker tape victory parade The making of the Oscars
The Chicago Auto Show The Most Desirable Women of 2012 Tu Bishvat Migron settlement
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 25
Meryl Streep and Colin Firth attend the "BAFTA" ceremony in London
View Caption
fark
There's vandalizing your school, and then there's doing a million dollars damage to your school
Police say Taylor Burnham, 18, was only wearing cowboy boots as she led police on a Sunday morning...
If you're working as a dog groomer and accidentally chop off a dog's ear, don't try to glue it back,...
After a two-year sting operation, the Feds shut down ... an Amish farm. Another victory in the war...
High school coach retires at 65 after getting arrested nude, "aroused" in car backseat with 17-year-old...
Man arrested for stealing $25k worth of Tide detergent. Witnesses say the suspect appeared quite...