Lambda News
1.08.2010
LIKELY THAT PROP 8 TRIAL WILL BE RECORDED, DISTRIBUTED VIA YOUTUBE
As we mentioned, Chief Judge Vaughn Walker requested comments as to whether Perry v. Schwarzenegger, set to begin Monday in District Court for the Northern District of California, will be televised. He has decided (subject to review by Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Alex Kozinski) to record the trial for live distribution to federal courthouses in San Francisco, Pasadena, Seattle, Portland, and Chicago, and to offer delayed-release via YouTube for the general public.
This is a complicated matter and there are valid arguments to be made on both sides of the recording issue. Fundamental misunderstandings (and total lack of knowledge) about our system of government could be addressed by civic engagement on this level. On the other hand, justice is not served if witnesses feel intimidated and lawyers and judges are motivated by self-aggrandizement rather than their duty to their clients and the law.
NEW JERSEY MARRIAGE VOTE FAILS
Regrettably, the New Jersey Senate defeated a bill that would give marriage equality to its citizens. The vote was 20-14.
New Jersey's progress in this area is somewhat analogous to that of Massachusetts; in both states, state courts decided that the unequal dispensation of rights and benefits to same-sex couples violated state law. Both state courts gave the legislature a short period of time to address the issue. Both state legislatures initially responded with civil unions.
In Massachusetts, the state senate certified a question to the Supreme Judicial Court asking, essentially, if civil unions would be "enough." The court said no, which led to marriage equality in the state. In New Jersey, the issue is more complicated. The original 4-3 majority vote in the court case, Lewis v. Harris, explicitly provided the state legislature with the option to create a "parallel statutory structure" to marriage statutes (i.e. civil unions) instead of amending marriage statutes to include gays and lesbians.
Advocates of marriage equality in New Jersey may choose to further pursue the matter in court, arguing that the civil union arrangement has simply not worked. As one Republican state legislator pointed out during the debate, "we should not be telling one couple you can be married and another couple you can be 'civil unionized.'"
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