Today is the day! Closing argument will be presented to Judge Walker in the Poposition 8 Trial. A few days ago the judge gave a list of questions to both sides. Yesterday both sides provided their answers. Today each side will have 1.5 hours of closing arguments (perhaps more if Judge Walker interrupts and asks questions: he has been a very involved judge, so this is expected).
I will be updating this diary with information about the trial, and I will continue to push links to primary sources for user-generated transcripts of the trial.
Today's schedule
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM Plaintiffs give their closing argument (Ted Olson and David Boies)
11:30 AM – 11:45 AM City and County of San Francisco take their turn
11:45 AM – 12:00 PM Governor, Attorney General and county defendants are up
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Lunch/David Boies and Chad Griffin talk to the media
1:00 PM – 3:15 PM Proponents are on the hot seat (argued by Charles Cooper)
3:15 PM – 3:45 PM Plaintiffs’ get a chance to make their rebuttal
4:00 Plaintiffs are holding a press conference on the day’s events
The great guys at Prop8TrialTracker.com are sitting in the courthouse, typing a transcript so we can follow along. If today follows the regular trial, you can get a good feel for the text of the trial plus emotional content at Prop8TrialTracker.com. Or you can go over to FireDog Lake for a more "line-for-line" transcription of the trial.
As Cleve Jones posted here on KOS just a little while ago, the Pro-8 people are doing their best to block access to the trial record. This is definitely a case where information is power! If you read any of the actual trial transcripts themselves, you see that the pro-8 group were terribly weak on evidence, and their witnesses were expert at, well, nothing.
Kossacks, in the same way that the Scopes trial had a huge effect on how evolution was viewed in the US, this trial is view-changing. You couldn't buy a better team for the side of Gay Rights. Olsen and Bois have shocked many be being, indeed, fierce advocates for Gay Rights. They have presented, for the first time in a federal court, evidence that shows that children in gay homes fare no worse than children in straight homes, and that these children would only benefit if their parents were married. They revealed the bad "science" of the Proponents, not to mention the animus and bias of the Prop 8 cause.
I know there is a lot going on in the world today, but this is the last day of a trial than can literally grant a huge chunk of equality to almost 10% of the population of this nation. I know you find this important; I hope today you'll join the GLBT community in praying for a perfect closing by the Olsen and Bois, and following the news.
9:35 AM PST
Update 1 10:45 PST:
Follow the liveblog at firedoglake
Plaintiffs are presenting their Closing Argument, David Bois presenting. There appears to be a LOT of back-and-forth between Bois and Judge Walker. The focus thus far is on the (proponent's) assertion that marriage is primarily in place to help create and raise children, as opposed to the Plaintiff's assertion that marriage is about two adults forming a relationship together.
Update 2 10:45 PST:
Still using the firedoglake transcript. One big note and one small snark. Quoting the liveblog:
Olson: Experts testified that elimination of barriers would strengthen the institution of marriage and our country. We’re not just talking about the people who want to marry: there are 37,000 California children being raised in same-sex households. They would be better off if their parents were married. Even Blankenhorn! (Plays Blankenhorn): My answer is that adopting same sex marriage would be likely to improve the wellbeing of gay and lesbian households and their children.
Olson: I was STRUCK by Dr — oh, I mean MISTER Blankenhorn’s statement. (Plays Boies asking B again): Reads B’s statement about people being viewed as "other" and elimination of discrimination and stigma. He went on to say that it would be a victory for gay relationships. (Tape: Boies: You wrote that I believe that gay and lesbian couples we would be more american on the day we permitted same-sex marriages than the day before. You wrote those words? Yes I did. You believed them? Yes You believe them now? Yes.
Nothing like a reminder that their "expert" on marriage doesn't have a degree in the area of which he is an expert.
On a more serious note:
Walker: Cooper said this is about legislation. Do you agree?
Olson: This proposition took away rights, just like Romer did in Colorado. Just as in Lawrence, SCOTUS said that the conduct in same sex relationships is protected. SCOTUS said –
Walker: Is there a YES or NO?
Olson: Well, yes and no. It can be decided based on the proposition itself, and SCOTUS has said again and again. You decided we should have a trial to examine the case, look at marriage and discrimination, I now think that was an exceedingly wise decision. Whatever you decide, we now will have evidence about what really matters, from the experts, from theplaintiffs. This has been a great education. To many many people. This is the kind of record created in Brown v Board, in the VMI case.
As I stated earlier in the diary, this is the first time these questions have occurred in court. Never before has testimony been given that gays are similar to straights in every way except in who they want to spend their lives with. The reference to Brown v Board is especially interesting, since that case brought about vast change to the US.