Supreme Court Nixes Webcast Of Prop 8 Trial

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A closely divided U.S. Supreme Court has indefinitely banned the Webcast of a trial about the constitutionality of a California law banning gay marriage.

Holding that officials improperly changed the rules regarding cameras in the courtroom, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to stay U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker's order allowing a limited broadcast of the proceedings.

"The District Court attempted to change its rules at the eleventh hour to treat this case differently than other trials in the district," the conservative majority wrote in a 17-page opinion. "Not only did it ignore the federal statute that establishes the procedures by which its rules may be amended, its express purpose was to broadcast a high-profile trial that would include witness testimony about a contentious issue."

The majority also said that allowing cameras in the court would result in "irreparable harm" to opponents of gay marriage.

The court's liberal wing dissented, with Justice Stephen Breyer writing that the parties "had more than adequate notice and opportunity to comment before the rule was changed."

Last week, Walker authorized the live streaming of the trial to five other courthouses. He also authorized footage to be posted to sites like YouTube on a time-delayed basis.

Opponents of gay marriage appealed the order, arguing that the witnesses in favor of Proposition 8 are afraid of harassment. "All of petitioners' witnesses have expressed concern over the potential public broadcast of trial proceedings, and some have stated that they will refuse to testify if the district court goes forward with its plan," they argued in legal papers.

In his dissent, Breyer questioned how the witnesses would be harmed by a video broadcast, given that their identities were already widely publicized. "They are all experts or advocates who have either already appeared on television or Internet broadcasts, already toured the state advocating a 'yes' vote on Proposition 8, or already engaged in extensive public commentary far more likely to make them well known than a closed-circuit broadcast to another federal courthouse," he wrote.

The decision marks at least the second time a federal judge has been shot down for attempting to allow a Webcast of a high-profile trial. Last year, U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Gertner in Boston allowed a Webcast of proceedings in the record label's lawsuit against grad student Joel Tenenbaum for sharing music files.

In that case, the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Gertner's order on the ground that local court rules prohibit video broadcasts.

1 comment about "Supreme Court Nixes Webcast Of Prop 8 Trial".
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  1. Bogdan Wegrzynek from Polish American Youth, January 14, 2010 at 6:32 p.m.

    Very Good !!!
    Bogdan Wegrzynek
    President Polish American Youth
    polish-americanyouth.org

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