Ruled by Professors on the Meaning of Marriage?
Chuck Donovan /
This week in a federal district courtroom in San Francisco, the trial that could alter the future of the institution of marriage came to an end. The closing arguments featured prominent national attorneys seeking to answer 39 final questions framed by the presiding judge, Vaughn Walker. At issue is the contention of plaintiffs that Prop 8, a voter-approved constitutional amendment that was adopted in November 2008, violates the U.S. constitution.
The National Organization for Marriage, whose California entity was one of the prime proponents of Prop 8, alongside the organization Protect Marriage.com, featured author and columnist Maggie Gallagher live-blogging from the courtroom, as well as live Twitter feeds from various viewpoints on the case. The final oral argument came later than expected due to delays over disputes regarding the access of Prop 8 proponents to the campaign emails of groups that favor same-sex marriage. The issue arose when Judge Walker previously ruled that Prop 8 proponents were required to turn over their internal campaign emails to the same-sex marriage advocacy groups. The pro-Prop 8 groups motioned to level the playing field on such access.