For me, this case has always been about civil rights. It harkens back to the civil rights era and to women's suffrage. No majority vote should ever be allowed to remove civil rights for non-criminal conduct. Whatever the outcome, this case could be of a similar magnitude to Brown vs. Board of Education and will probably be appealed by either party all the way to the US Supreme Court.
Sponsors of California's gay marriage ban want a delay in the trial over its constitutionality so they can appeal a judge's decision to allow videotaped testimony on YouTube.The trial is scheduled to start Monday.
Earlier this week, U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker decided to allow daily video recordings of the trial on YouTube, a first for a federal courtroom in the West."
U.S. District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker, a Republican named to the bench in 1989 by the first President Bush. Walker, who has a reputation as an independent thinker, was randomly assigned the lawsuit will preside over the case. He has gone on record for admonishing Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for remaining neutral "on an issue of this magnitude and importance."
Over vigorous objections by supporters of Prop 8, the judge is allowing the case to be placed on YouTube, another thing I find interesting. I have always thought democracy functions well only when it is public.
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