From: WSJ.com: Law Blog
The U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday afternoon ruled 5-4 that San
Francisco federal judge Vaughn Walker, currently presiding over the
Prop. 8 trial concerning same-sex marriage, erred in ruling that a
video feed of the trial could be broadcast in a handful of other
federal courts.
Respond to this topic on your own blog
Click and press Ctrl+C to copy and paste this discussion on your blog or site
Related Articles
Supreme Court bars broadcast of Prop 8 trial in California
The Supreme Court split along ideological lines Wednesday as it
barred a federal judge in San Francisco from broadcasting a
high-profile trial involving same-sex marriage. The court issued an
unsigned opinion that said lower courts had not followed proper
procedure in approving plans for the broadcast. The trial is to
consider the constitutionality of Proposition 8, California's ban
on same-sex marriage, and the Supreme Court cited arguments from
proponents of the ban that releasing video of witnesses could
subject them to harassment and even physical danger. The court's
liberal bloc -- joined for the first time in an ideological split
by Sonia Sotomayor, the new justice -- issued a strong dissent. It
said the court's "extraordinary legal relief" was unjustified. The
majority "identifies n...
Judge Puts Boies and Olson’s Prop. 8 Challenge on Fast Track to Trial
On Tuesday, a significant challenge to Prop. 8 took a baby step
closer to the Supreme Court when the judge assigned to the case,
San Francisco federal judge Vaughn Walker, said that while he was
inclined not to issue an injunction halting the application of the
law, he was eager to set the case on a fast track to trial.
Court blocks broadcast of trial on Calif. ban of gay marriage
The Supreme Court on Monday morning temporarily blocked a federal
judge in San Francisco from showing on YouTube proceedings from a
trial that will determine whether a ban on same-sex marriage is
unconstitutional. The court's decision is not the final word; the
stay sought by same-sex marriage opponents expires Wednesday. The
court said that will permit justices "further consideration." The
trial is scheduled to start Monday. Justice Stephen G. Breyer was
the only justice to object. "I agree with the court that further
consideration is warranted, and I am pleased that the stay is
time-limited," Breyer wrote. But he said the court's standards for
issuing a stay were not met because there is not a likelihood of
"irreparable harm" if the proceedings were available on the
Internet. Two bay are...
High court pulls plug on YouTube trial coverage
For now, the only way Californians can watch the trial over the
constitutionality of the state's ban on same-sex marriage is to
take a trip to the federal courthouse on Golden Gate Avenue in San
Francisco.Just an hour before the trial got under way Monday, the
U.S. Supreme Court halted for at least two days the judge's plans
to allow video of the proceedings to be uploaded on a delayed basis
on YouTube. The 8-1 decision also prevented live simulcasts from
being broadcast at the federal appeals court building at Seventh
and Mission streets and at courthouses in Seattle, Pasadena,
Portland, Ore., and Brooklyn, N.Y.The court said it wanted until at
least Wednesday to consider arguments by backers of Proposition 8,
the November 2008 ballot measure outlawing same-sex marriage, that
camera cover...
Could Proposition 8 Case Fizzle Before Reaching Supreme Court?
The high-profile battle over California's Proposition 8 has been
touted as the case that could force the Supreme Court to face the
issue of same-sex marriage. But now that Judge Vaughn Walker has
ruled that Prop 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California, is
unconstitutional, the possibility is real that the case might never
make it on appeal all the way to the high court. That's because the
advocates of Prop 8, who are launching the appeal, may not have the
necessary standing to carry it forward.
