Legal Commentary

Supreme Court Opinion Staying Video Transmission of Prop. 8 Trial

By Eugene Volokh

The opinion was just released today, and is here. There?s also a dissenting opinion, written by Justice Breyer and joined by Justices Stevens, Ginsburg, and Sotomayor.

UPDATE: The Court?s reasoning focuses on the late change in the district court?s rules to permit the live transmission of the trial; the Court concludes that this change likely violated the federal statute that generally requires ?appropriate public notice and an opportunity for comment? before such rule changes are made. The Court also concludes that the equities favor the stay pending a final decision on the merits, partly because of what it sees as the extra risk of harassment and deterrence of witnesses if the trial is broadcast. The dissent disagrees on these points. The Court does not directly discuss the propriety of broadcasting federal trials, though it suggests that such broadcasting might be inappropriate ? at least as part of ?a pilot program? ? as to witness testimony in high-profile cases. I leave it to others to analyze the opinion in more detail, though I might have some posts on some particular questions.

Full post as published by The Volokh Conspiracy on January 13, 2010 (boomark / email).