Closing arguments in the federal challenge to California’s Proposition 8, the voter approved ban on gay marriage, will not be broadcast.
Chief Judge Vaughn Walker denied a request from media groups seeking to record the June 16 session. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California had previously stated it would not allow for “simultaneous” broadcast of closings, but was silent about delayed transmission, or webcast.
Two same-sex couples and the city of San Francisco have sued to overturn Proposition 8, the November 2008 initiative that amended the California Constitution to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman.
Walker presided over the non-jury trial in January. He had proposed to televise the trial live to several federal courthouses around the nation and record the proceedings for a delayed Internet posting on YouTube.
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The broadcast, which would have been the first for a federal court in California, was blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court just before the trial started.
