(Prop. 8) Same-sex lawsuit videos stay under wraps for now

[alp227]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

(09-27) 16:29 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- The videos of last year's same-sex marriage trial in San Francisco will remain sealed, at least for now, while a federal appeals court considers arguments by sponsors of Proposition 8 that making the recordings public would endanger witnesses and damage the "credibility and integrity of the federal judiciary."

Chief U.S. District Judge James Ware ruled Sept. 19 that the videos would be released this Friday unless a higher court intervened. On Monday, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco issued a temporary stay, which is likely to be renewed while the appeals court and the U.S. Supreme Court review the dispute.

Ware's predecessor, Judge Vaughn Walker, presided over the January 2010 trial on Prop. 8, the 2008 initiative that banned same-sex marriage in California. Under a new rule that allowed camera coverage, Walker approved a live telecast to other federal courthouses and proposed recording the trial for the court's website, but the Supreme Court overruled him.

The court ruled 5-4 that Walker had not allowed enough time for public comment under local court regulations. The justices also indicated they agreed with Prop. 8's sponsors that cameras would intimidate their witnesses.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/27/BAL61LA9KP.DTL