According to San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer Bob Egelko, the Federal Prop 8 trial set to begin at 9:00 am, 11 January may be televised:
(12-17) 16:40 PST SAN FRANCISCO — Television cameras will be allowed for the first time in federal trials under an experimental program approved by the San Francisco-based appeals court Thursday that could lead to TV coverage of a lawsuit challenging California’s same-sex marriage ban.
Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, presiding over the case on the constitutionality of Proposition 8, has said he may approve TV coverage of the trial, scheduled to start Jan. 11 in San Francisco.
Egelko adds, “Courts in California and many other states allow cameras with the judge’s consent, but federal courts have historically prohibited them in trials.”
The trial is expected to last several weeks. After Judge Vaughn Walker issues his decision, the losing party will be able to appeal to the Ninth Circuit United States Court of Appeals. The step after that is, of course, the United States Supreme Court.
Yesterday, journalist, editor and blogger Karen Ocamb, at LGBT POV, provided an account of the pre-trial hearing and other developments.
In addition to his remarks in Ocamb’s post, Fernando Lopez, Field Coordinator of Marriage Equality USA – San Diego, published a commentary yesterday, at San Diego Gay & Lesbian News.com, on the attempt by Imperial County to horn in on the Prop 8 federal trial for no particular reason, other than that they were approached by the radical religious right’s well-funded legal goon squad, the Alliance Defense Fund.
[Chair of the Imperial County Board of Supervisors, Wally Leimgruber] also informed me that he was approached by the Alliance Defense Fund (the anti-equality guys with money) to bring the issue to the board with the promise that they would pay all of the county’s expenses with regards to the case. This, I must mention, is a good sign for our side. Our opposition is so desperate for support that they sought out a small county to help add legitimacy to their case.
The Alliance Defense Fund is based in Scottsdale, Arizona. Regular readers are by now, no doubt, familiar with the organization’s anti-gay track record.
Fernando Lopez provides contact particulars for Imperial County officials and explains the impact of out-of-state interference by religious right organizations in California’s affairs:
These types of anti-queer decisions only fuel the fires of hate and discrimination. As we have seen an increase in hate crimes since the passage of Prop 8, we know that these despicable acts only legitimize those who seek to treat us differently and even bring us harm.
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