NOM Appeals Maine Disclosure Ruling

As we expected, NOM is refusing to comply with last week's ruling by a federal judge that it must disclose the names of the people who funded its successful campaign to repeal same-sex marriage in Maine. Today they kicked their appeal upstairs to the First Circuit Court, their last stop before SCOTUS.

Lawyers for the National Organization for Marriage filed their notice of appeal with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, which already is considering another constitutional challenge of Maine's campaign finance law by the Virginia-based organization. The National Organization for Marriage, or NOM, sued after the state ethics commission found that it could be required to disclose the identities of its donors. Last month, U.S. District Judge D. Brock Hornby granted a summary judgment upholding Maine's campaign disclosure laws as they pertain to ballot committees. Maine law says groups that raise or spend more than $5,000 to influence elections must register with the state and disclose their donors. NOM donated $1.9 million to Stand for Marriage Maine, a political action committee that helped repeal Maine's same sex marriage law.