Cameras will be allowed in the court room during the Proposition 8 hearing on gay marriage. The decision was made by U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker. There will be no live broadcast, but the proceedings will be taped and then posted on YouTube.com a few hours later.
It is not known if this decision was the reason Hak-Shing WIlliam Tam asked to be removed from the lawsuit. Tam was one of five people who formally intervened to defend the state from a federal lawsuit.
Tam told the court on Friday, that he had been harassed and his property vandalized during the campaign, and he was afraid of being continually harassed if he continued with the lawsuit and trial which was to start on Monday in San Francisco.
The lawyers and the media support this decision to have the cameras in the court room and filed court papers on Friday asking the 9th Circuit to uphold Judge Walker’s decision. The three-judge panel denied a request from Lawyers for Prop 8 to halt the recordings because they felt it would intimidate witness testimony.
The History News Network in San Diego had their annual meeting at the American Historical Association yesterday to talk about Proposition 8.