(satirical graphic: mine)
Justice D Brock Hornby, a federal judge, has ruled against two out-of-state, anti-equality organizations that are working to repeal Maine’s marriage-equality law. The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and American Principles in Action (APIA) sought a temporary restraining order that would afford them a special exemption from Maine’s election laws in their efforts to raise cash while concealing their contributors until after the election on 3 November.
The New Jersey-based NOM, led by arch-phobes Maggie Gallagher and Brian Brown, has contributed more than half the funding — in excess of $1.5 million — raised by Stand for Marriage Maine PAC, the organization headed by Marc Mutty that is seeking to overturn the state’s recently passed marriage equality law. Mutty is on loan from the Catholic Church, which contributed $550,000.00 to eliminate equality in Maine, a figure that includes money from out-of-state parishes and other unnamed sources — believed by many in include the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
APIA announced its intention earlier to create two extremely bigoted ads, described in an earlier post, and then conceal the source of their funding while running the pro-Question One ads on Maine television and the internet.
On the First of October, the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices ignored its staff’s recommendation and announced its intention to open an investigation into whether NOM was, in fact, subject to ballot question committee reporting requirements and whether the anti-equality group had violated those requirements. Under Maine law, violators may be subject to fines and imprisonment.
The founder of Californians Against Hate, Fred Karger, who leveled the charges of financial impropriety and violations of Maine’s election transparency laws with the Maine Ethics Commission, said, “In over 30 years in politics, I have never seen such a blatant disregard for the law as what Maggie Gallagher and Brian Brown are doing in Maine.”
In an eBlast minutes ago, Karger said:
“NOM was well aware of Maine’s longstanding reporting requirements and election law before it went charging up there to put this referendum on the ballot. From day one they tried to hide the source of their funds, and then sue the state when they got caught. They think that they are above the law, and today we saw that is not true.”
The Maine Ethics Commission will meet on 19 November, weeks after the election, to announce the results of its investigation.
UPDATE (28 October 2:37pm): LGBT watchdog group Californians Against Hate has posted a response to the court’s decision at its blog.
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