The first federal case to challenge the
constitutionality of a gay marriage ban will be streamed over the
Internet, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled Wednesday.
Supporters of Proposition 8, the
voter-approved measure that placed a gay marriage ban in the
California Constitution and trumped a state Supreme Court ruling that
granted gay couples the right to marry, have protested the idea,
saying it posed a potential threat to trial participants.
BusinessWeek.com reported that Walker
will allow the trial – which begins January 11 – to be broadcast
over YouTube, the video-sharing site owned by Google Inc.
“This is a case which merits a very
serious consideration for widespread distribution,” Walker said
during Wednesday's hearing.
Walker is acting after a pilot program
that would for the first time allow cameras in civil trials was
approved by the governing body for federal courts in Western states.
Kristin Perry v Arnold
Schwarzenegger is the first such case to be heard in a federal
courtroom, but three more are wending their way through the system,
including a
suit brought by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley,
who is campaigning for the Senate seat vacated by the late Senator
Ted Kennedy.