No Remote Video of Final Prop 8 Trial Aguments

OPEN COURTS -- The only people able to watch next week's closing arguments in the trial over same-sex marriage in California will be the ones who are in the federal courtroom or an adjoining room linked by closed circuit television, reports Bob Egelko for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker issued a brief order Thursday denying a request by media organizations to televise the arguments, scheduled to last all day Wednesday in San Francisco. The organizations included Hearst Corp., which owns The Chronicle.

The denial means "the public will again only hear about this case second-hand," said Thomas Burke, the media groups' lawyer. Andrew Pugno, a lawyer for sponsors of the ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage, countered that "the purpose of the court is not to entertain or educate the public, but to protect the right to a fair and impartial trial." The sponsors had opposed televising any trial proceedings.

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.

The telecast, 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. In a 5-4 ruling, the court said Walker hadn't given the public enough time to comment on the proposed change in court rules. The court also cited claims by Prop. 8's sponsors that showing the proceedings outside the courthouse might intimidate witnesses.

Media organizations asked Walker last month to approve televising the closing arguments. They said that airing a hearing that included only lawyers and the judge couldn't affect witnesses or the fairness of the trial. But Prop. 8's backers argued that cameras can distract judges and lawyers and prompt "grandstanding and avoidance of unpopular decisions or positions." Walker did not spell out his reasons for denying the media request.

The arguments will still be shown on closed-circuit TV, but only in an overflow courtroom at the San Francisco courthouse at 450 Golden Gate Ave.

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