Supreme Court Blocks Broadcast of Gay-Marriage Trial
The U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily blocked the broadcast of a trial challenging California’s ban on gay marriage.
The Supreme Court blocked any broadcast at other federal courthouses for at least two days, SCOTUSblog reports. The order does permit a real-time broadcast of the trial to other rooms within the San Francisco federal courthouse, however.
U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker had allowed the broadcast under an experimental program adopted by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He had ruled trial recordings could be posted on YouTube at the close of each day’s proceedings and could be broadcast in real time at other courthouses.
His plan requires approval by Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Kozinski had approved Walker’s proposal to broadcast the trial in 9th Circuit courthouses in Seattle; Portland, Ore.; San Francisco; Pasadena, Calif.; and the courthouse for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn, N.Y., according to the 9th Circuit’s information officer, David Madden. Kozinski was still evaluating the proposal for YouTube broadcast when the Supreme Court stepped in.
“The fact that the court will take more time to consider the issue is an indication that the broadcasting may yet be allowed,” SCOTUSblog says. “But the mere fact that it has imposed even a temporary delay would not appear to be an encouraging sign for the prospect that the video will be seen outside the courthouse.”
According to the Washington Post, the Supreme Court stay expires Wednesday, permitting “further consideration” of the issue, the court said.
Justice Stephen G. Breyer dissented from the order. He said he was not persuaded that those opposing the broadcast would suffer any harm by letting it proceed, the Washington Post reports.
“I agree with the court that further consideration is warranted, and I am pleased that the stay is time-limited,” Breyer said.
Additional coverage is available at The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.
Hat tip to USA Today’s OnDeadline.
Updated on Jan. 13 to include information from the 9th Circuit information officer, who says Chief Judge Kozinski has not yet approved the YouTube broadcast.
