San Francisco, Calif. Opponents and supporters of Proposition 8, California’s ban on gay marriage, presented arguments Aug. 29 to the U.S. District Court on whether to publicly release footage of the trial on the law’s constitutionality. Conservatives are currently appealing a ruling in a separate case striking down the ban.
â┚¬Å”We have a strong tradition of openness in this country and the First Amendment and common law make judicial records and proceedings presumptively open to the public,” Ted Boutrous, lawyer for the American Foundation for Equal Rights, told the court.
“The proponents have been utterly unable to explain why the public should be barred from seeing and hearing for themselves what happened in a public trial,” he added. “The real reason that the proponents are fighting public release is that do not want the world to see the powerful evidence we submitted showing that Proposition 8 flatly violates the Constitution.”
U.S. District Judge James Ware allowed that he was generally in favor of allowing cameras in the courtroom, but also said he was concerned about the precedent of having one judge break the agreement made by another judge.
The U.S. Supreme Court banned cameras from covering the high-profile case after attorneys for Proposition 8 argued that the public exposure could intimidate witnesses. The presiding judge, the now-retired Vaughn Walker, had his staff record the trial for what he said was his personal use in deciding the case.
After Walker struck down Proposition 8 in August 2010, supporters of gay marriage argued that the videotapes should be unsealed in order to allow Americans to see the proceedings of the landmark trial.
The conservative group defending the ban, Protect Marriage, believes releasing the footage would leave its two witnesses vulnerable to attacks and harassment.
Ware said he would not delay and would issue a ruling soon.
