Litigation

Supreme Court Blocks CA Trial Video Coverage

By Peter Hardin

The trial of a lawsuit challenging California’s ban on same-sex marriages opened in a San Francisco federal courtroom today, drawing national attention. But plans for video coverage through YouTube were halted at least temporarily by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Supporters of the gay marriage ban had asked the high court to block video coverage  of the trial proceedings. They protested,  according to an article in Bloomberg, saying in documents that a fair trial might be impacted adversely:

“If the  district court proceeds with its unlawful plan to broadcast the trial proceedings in this case on YouTube, petitioners will suffer irreparable harm as their fundamental right to a fair trial will be infringed.?

On Monday the Supreme Court overruled District Judge Vaughn R. Walker, who had said videotape of the proceedings could be uploaded regularly on YouTube. The Supreme Court’s brief order did not give its reasoning, but said the justices were blocking until Wednesday, Jan. 13, the “real-time streaming” of the trial except to other rooms in the San Francisco courthouse, the Los Angeles Times reported. Justice Steven G. Breyer dissented, saying he did not foresee a “likelihood of ‘irreparable harm.’”

The trial is expected to be far-reaching in its impact. This is due not only due to widespread controversy over same-sex marriage, but also to the precedent-setting nature of  cameras in the courtroom for such a case–if they are permitted. If the video coverage goes forward, the trial “has the potential to be an extraordinarily powerful teaching moment,?Jennifer C. Pizer, of the gay civil rights group Lambda Legal, told the New York Times.

Even before it began, the trial drew superlatives in the news media. The Los Angeles Times reported it would include “unprecedented testimony” with challengers of the marriage ban planning to call witnesses including homosexual couples, experts on the history of sexual discrimination and marriage, and sponsors of the Proposition 8 ballot measure that resulted in the current ban.

An article in Law.com called it an “epic civil rights trial” whose central constitutional issue will not be decided ultimately by District Judge Vaughn R. Walker but by a higher court.

The trial could last week three weeks and will feature such legal stars as former U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson and trial lawyer David Boies challenging the same-sex marriage ban. They squared off on opposite sides, for Republican President George W. Bush and Democratic candidate Al Gore respectively, in the Florida presidential election recount fight in 2000.

A preview of the battles has appeared in the news media. Olson wrote an essay in Newsweek entitled, “The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage.” Matthew J. Franck, a political science professor at Radford University in Virginia, retorted with commentary in National Review entitled, “The Gay Gettysburg Address.”

Other articles included Newsweek on Olson, “The Conscience of a Conservative;” Time, “A Gay-Marriage Lawsuit Dares to Make its Case;” and Slate, “For Better or Worse.” You can learn more about the case in earlier Gavel Grab posts.

Full post as published by The Gavel on January 11, 2010 (boomark / email).