Coming Soon to YouTube: Federal Gay Marriage Trial
Those interested in the trial challenging California’s ban on gay marriage beginning Monday can catch a delayed broadcast of the proceedings on YouTube.
U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker allowed the broadcast under an experimental program adopted by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, according to stories in the Recorder and the San Jose Mercury News. The program allows broadcast of civil nonjury trials on a case-by-case basis.
“I think it’s worth trying in this case,” Walker said. He is the first federal judge to allow broadcast of a civil trial in the new program. The trial will be recorded on cameras operated by court personnel. The Recorder says the tapes will be broadcast sometime at the close of the day’s proceedings, while real-time broadcasts will be available at other federal courthouses.
The U.S. Judicial Conference opposes televised proceedings and has urged each circuit to ban cameras. Walker turned down a request by In Session, formerly Court TV, to broadcast the proceedings live.
California Lawyer has an in-depth story on the Hollywood activists who backed the constitutional challenge, including director Rob Reiner and Bruce Cohen, who produced the film Milk.
