Sup Ct Rules Against Prop. 8 Trial Broadcast

Good news, Prop. 8 proponents! The Supreme Court ruled today that the Prop. 8 trial will not be broadcast. The Wall Street Journal reports:

The U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday afternoon ruled 5-4 that San Francisco federal judge Vaughn Walker, currently presiding over the Prop. 8 trial concerning same-sex marriage, erred in ruling that a video feed of the trial could be broadcast in a handful of other federal courts. In other words, the trial will not be televised. Click here for the per curiam decision.

The 5-4 vote was straight down those oh-so-familiar lines. The “conservatives,” Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, Alito and Roberts, signed onto the opinion. Justice Breyer wrote a dissent, joined by Justices Stevens, Breyer, Ginsburg and Sotomayor.

The signers to the per curiam decision ruled that Judge Walker failed to follow proper procedures in amending a local rule stating that proceedings should not be broadcast beyond “the courtroom or its environs.” ...

The dissenters saw it differently, however, finding that “Certainly the parties themselves had more than adequate notice and opportunity to comment before the Rule was changed.”

For more details, check out the WSJ coverage on their law blog. Sorry this is a quickie, but it's been quite the long day. More analysis/commentary on the week's proceedings to come over the weekend. Until then, keep fighting the good fight (and praying for the upholding of Prop. 8), my friends!