Gene Policinski: When First Amendment freedoms conflict, which would you pick?

  Balancing — or pitting — First Amendment freedoms against each other is tough work. Akin to asking a parent which child is the favorite, seeking to favor one or two of the five freedoms — religion, speech, press, assembly or petition — over the others creates an inherent contradiction.

  But that’s exactly the dilemma for First Amendment advocates, along with the U.S. Supreme Court and Washington state lawmakers, presented by a lawsuit and legislative debate over whether or not names on a petition ought to be made public. And unlike parents, nobody gets to resolve the question by saying, “I love them all equally.”

  The issue involved is itself especially controversial: the proposed repeal of Washington’s law that extends to domestic partners most of the legal rights of married couples. Supporters of repeal gathered nearly 140,000 signatures, but the move failed last year at the ballot box.