Court allows broadcast of trial on same-sex marriage ban

SAN JOSE, Calif.
— A federal appeals court on Friday rejected a bid by Proposition 8
supporters to block the broadcast of the upcoming trial involving a
challenge to California’s same-sex marriage ban, refusing to stop to a plan to post the proceedings on YouTube.

In a one-paragraph order, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that the Proposition 8 campaign had not presented reason for “intervention by this court” in the broadcast issue.

Lawyers for the Proposition 8 campaign had argued that Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker did not have the legal authority to permit cameras in the trial, which is set to begin Monday in San Francisco. Proposition 8 backers say that broadcasting the proceedings “is likely to negatively affect the fairness of the trial.”

The Proposition 8 backers did not ask for a delay in
the trial. But the Proposition 8 legal team filed an emergency petition
with the 9th Circuit, asking the appellate court to intervene and block
the broadcast until their arguments can be addressed. The petition
contends that Walker’s decision to broadcast the trial on YouTube threatens to turn it into a “media circus.”

Attorneys defending the law have opposed any
broadcast of the trial, saying that it exposes the Proposition 8
campaign’s witnesses to threats and intimidation from same-sex marriage
supporters. In fact, one prominent proposition sponsor and same-sex
marriage foe, William Tam, on Friday asked to be removed as a defendant in the case, saying he has been subjected to harassment.

Walker rejected the campaign’s arguments against
cameras earlier this week, authorizing delayed video of the trial to be
posted through YouTube with court-operated cameras in his courtroom.

The judge broke new ground, making use of a pilot program put in place in December by the 9th Circuit Judicial Council, the policy arm of the federal courts in nine western states, including California.
The program permits trial judges to allow cameras in civil, nonjury
trials, breaking with federal court tradition generally banning the
video of federal court cases.

Plaintiffs lawyers have supported the broadcast of
the trial, the first such proceeding in the nation in the battle over
the legality of same-sex marriage.

—

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