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Prop 8 Closing Arguments Not to be Televised

6-10-10  Melanie Nathan

San Francisco – Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker said the Proposition 8 trial had been removed in January from the local federal court’s experimental program for televising cases, and thus could not qualify under court procedures to permit cameras in the courtroom.

Media groups last month asked Walker for permission to broadcast and webcast the closing arguments, which is scheduled for Wednesday in San Francisco and mark the end of a trial testing whether Proposition 8 violates the constitutional rights of gay and lesbian couples.

Walker, who will decide the case, heard nearly a month of evidence in January, and is expected to rule later this summer.

The judge had planned to allow the trial to be webcast on YouTube, but the U.S. Supreme Court intervened in January and blocked that plan. Supporters of the same-sex marriage ban oppose televising the proceedings.

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