After a number of attempts to get the video of the Prop 8 trial released to the public, the decision has been reached again to keep the video secret. The reason this time? The fact that the trial judge who allowed the recording initially said it would be kept secret. This will likely be the final nail in the coffin in the release of the Prop 8 video. It was even specified that Judge Walker, who presided over the trial, cannot keep his own copy of the tapes.
…the ruling maintained a blanket of secrecy over recordings of a trial that was as public a proceeding as federal court rules allow: intense media coverage, live-blogging from the courtroom, a telecast to spectators in an overflow courtroom, and re-enactments on YouTube – and even on Broadway.
Prop. 8’s sponsors, however, argued that any telecast beyond the courthouse would intimidate and endanger their witnesses. They persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court to ban live broadcasts to other federal courthouses on the eve of trial in January 2010, and they prevailed again today in an effort to keep the recordings under seal, perhaps permanently.
There’s also no indication as to when the ruling on the constitutionality of Prop 8 will happen.
