Regular readers know I've been following the money behind the successful effort to overturn Maine's same sex marriage law last fall. In short, about two-thirds of it comes from a single source -- the National Organization for Marriage -- which not only refuses to reveal its donors as required by Maine law, it has sued Maine in federal court in an effort not to play by the rules.
I'm on assignment in Europe, but I understand that the February issue of Down East is now on the newsstands back in New England. Inside, anyone interested in this issue will want to read my Talk of Maine column, "Hiding the Money." It's also available online. I posted some additional details back in December here at World Wide Woodard.
I'll be continuing to follow the Maine Ethics Commission investigation of NOM and, of course, the federal suit challenging our state's campaign finance laws. Stay tuned.
[Update, 8/11/2011: A federal appeals court has upheld a U.S. District Court decision against NOM's position, moving the organization one step closer to disclosure.]
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Thanks for pushing so hard on this Collin. The repeal was something that I think will be a black eye for our state for a long time to come.
ReplyDeleteFor me, personal beliefs on marriage aside, the thing that gets me barking mad is when any group feels like they don't have to play by the rules because "they don't want to" such as the NOM is doing. I don't have a DE subscription, but I'll be picking this issue up at the news stand.
-Matt
Colin, I received the following last night and forwarding to you; my apologies if you were already aware. Will be writing this up for our Blend readers as well and link them to your work; thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteLouise @Pam's House Blend
melouise.phb@gmail.com
http://www.pamshouseblend.com
Just a heads up: this Thursday, 28 Jan, the Maine Ethics Commission will hold a hearing on NOM's request to stay its investigation of NOM until the federal courts have reached a final decision on its constitutional challenge to the ballot question reporting statute. The hearing begins at 9:00 a.m.; NOM is 4th on the agenda:
http://bit.ly/7nfurg
You can usually live stream these hearings - a link should appear at the time the meeting is held.
Maine Public Radio had this related story tonight:
http://bit.ly/8tyTmI