WATCH: PROP 8 CASE ATTORNEYS DAVID BOIES AND TED OLSON DISCUSS COURT CAMERAS, GAY JUDGE, SCOTUS VOTES, AND EQUALITY [Towle] ...

  [TOWLEROAD EXCLUSIVE]Last night, lead attorneys in the federal challenge to Proposition 8, David Boies and Ted Olson, made their first public appearance since the Perry v. Schwarzenegger trial began in January at a New York Times 'Unlikely Allies' talk before 150 people at NYT headquarters in midtown Manhattan. Before their talk, Olson and Boies gave an exclusive interview to Towleroad during which we were able to ask them a few questions that have come up since January. A final round of briefs was submitted at the end of February, and closing arguments are still to be heard. In the interview ...

With all that's been written about the case brought by Ted Olson and David Boies challenging the constitution of Proposition 8, you would think that the outcome there will decide gay marriage nationwide. In fact, it well could, if the... ...

Barney Frank refers to Antonin Scalia as "that homophobe," but could the Supreme Court Justice actually be the key to granting marriage equality? Ted Olson and David Boies think so, using words from Scalia's Lawrence v. Texas dissent as reason why. This from Change.org: Scalia also wrote this very wordy, but very telling paragraph [in Lawrence]: "If moral disapprobation of homosexual conduct is 'no legitimate state interest' for purposes of proscribing that conduct, and if, as the Court coos, '[w]hen sexuality finds overt expression in intimate conduct with another person, the conduct can be but one element in a ...

Ted Olson and David Boies, the attorneys leading the federal challenge to Proposition 8 in California, submitted a 294-page document on Friday as part of final filings in the case.  Said Chad Griffin, Board President of the American Foundation for Equal Rights: "This 294-page filing is only a summary of the overwhelming evidence against Proposition 8. The evidence proves beyond a doubt that Proposition 8, which separates Americans into unequal groups, violates the U.S. Constitution and causes incredible harm to individuals and our nation as a whole." The document submitted to Judge Vaughn Walker by Olson and ...

American radio host and philanthropist Don Imus of the Imus in the Morning show has endorsed marriage equality for same-sex couples. Imus is no stranger to controversy but this is certainly a move we can applaud.In response to his guest David Boies one of the trial lawyers representing same-sex couples seeking to overturn California's proposition 8 marriage ban he says:"I support on it the basis of the philosophy of my friend Kinky Friedman who thinks they have the right to be as unhappy as anyone else"You must be a member of his website to contact Don Imus. ...

Don Imus speaks with Prop 8 trial lawyer David Boies about the federal lawsuit. Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...(via queerty) ...

I will admit to being a bit surprised to see such an in-depth report on the Prop 8 trial and the importance of marriage equality on the Don Imus show, of all places. He speaks with trial lawyer David Boies explains the merits of their case and shoots down the weak arguments of the opposing side with ease. At the end of the interview Don Imus thanks Boies and tells him that he hopes he wins the case! (via Towleroad) ...

More intellectual dishonesty from the politico who has turned disingenuity into an art form, Maggie Gallagher: Here’s my question for [Ted Olson and David Boies] as they strive to prove that Science Says same-sex unions are just like opposite-sex ones, when it comes to children. Perhaps you are right. Perhaps alone of all the family structures science has ever studied, children living with same-sex couples do just as well as children in intact married families. (Perhaps that is true even though your own expert witness admits there is no research on gay male families and child outcomes, and there is no nationally ...

Shannon Minter reports on the first witness called by Prop 8 proponents in the federal trial, Kenneth Miller, a professor at Claremont McKenna College who teaches politics and is an "expert" in the ballot initiative process. Minter, writing for Pams House Blend, called Miller's testimony, "as an expert on the political power of gay men and lesbians in California and nationally," simplistic: In addition to offering a surprisingly superficial account of political power, Prof. Miller made several admissions that undermined his credibility as an expert.  Under a withering cross-examination by David Boies, Prof. Miller admitted that, at ...

Plaintiffs in the federal challenge to Proposition 8 will rest their case on Monday. Attorney David Boies told the Wall Street Journal, "We're pleased with the way it has gone." According to the American Foundation for Equal Rights, "Before resting their case, the plaintiffs will present documents and videos that reinforce points made during the first two weeks of trial." Then the second half begins:"Defense lawyer Andrew Pugno said his side would present evidence from experts that traditional definitions of marriage between heterosexual couples have special benefit for children and for society. The defense's portion of the ...

This from our ol' two step partner, Mags Gallagher: When this trial began I told you: gay marriage activists were putting 7 million Californians on trial. . . . explaining how intellectually absurd it is to conduct a “trial” into the subjective motivations of 7 million voters, constitutionally speaking.). But this week it got worse: They are clearly putting Christianity itself on trial. Why else have an expert read statements of Catholic and Southern Baptist doctrines into the record? And why put a Stanford Prof. named Gary Segura on the stand to testify “”religion is the chief obstacle for gays’ and lesbians’ political ...

Here are several items related to the federal Prop 8 trial which I've put together.San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders (below, right) is scheduled to testify in the Prop 8 trial on Tuesday. His September 2007 speech in which he reversed his position on same-sex marriage is epic. Prop 8 supporters have shortened their witness list for this week: " Instead of six people, they'll only have two. The lawyer for the sponsors of the proposition that bans gay marriage says their witnesses are worried about their safety.' Their concern was the same that others have, ...

Clipart via Florida Center for Instructional Technology A week ago, the US Supreme Court overruled the judge in the case and said that video from the Prop. 8 trial in San Francisco cannot be distributed for public viewing. But there’s more than one way to show a trial on TV and a Los Angeles filmmaker says that he and a team of actors are ready to reenact the trial from court transcripts and to distribute the reenactment to a website and on YouTube, LA Weekly reports. The filmmaker, John Ireland, put out a call on Craigslist ...

“I hope my Democratic president will catch up to my conservative Republican co-counsel.” -Perry v. Schwarzenegger attorney David Boies from Maureen Dowd's latest column, commenting on President Obama's lagging behind Ted Olson on the issue of marriage equality Amen. Just don't forget constitutional law professor Barack Obama, Mr. Boies. In terms of falling short, the president's marriage stance would seem to be letting down that earlier bio line even more than his current one! The whole thing reminds us of another timely quote: "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." -Martin Luther ...

Maureen Dowd interviews Ted Olson and David Boies about the federal challenge to Proposition 8 in the NYT. Olson told her, "I think there’s something the matter with you if you don’t care enough to feel the suffering that they’ve been through and if you’re not emotionally upset about the fact that we’re doing an immense amount of harm to people,” he said. “We’re not treating them like Americans. We’re not treating them like citizens." And Boies took Obama to task for his pace on the issue: While Charles Cooper, the lawyer on the anti-gay-marriage side, cited President Obama’s declaration that marriage ...

Ever since Ted Olson and David Boies, who were on opposite sides of the infamous Bush vs. Gore case, announced they were marshaling forces to challenge the federal constitutionality of Proposition 8, I've been mightily encouraged by their prospects of... ...

I’m not a big fan of Maureen Dowd. I mean, I usually enjoy her ultimate point, but the path she uses to take us there is often distracting and condescending. Which is probably why I enjoyed her op-ed this weekend, “An Odd Couple Defends Couples That Some (Oddly) Find Odd ” — in it, rather than overpowering her point with her loud-speaker-enabled voice, she lets Ted Olson and David Boies speak for themselves. And what they have to say is, once again, worth hearing. [says Ted Olson], “I think there’s something the matter with you if you don’t ...

On January 9, attorney David Boies helps plaintiffs Jeff Zarrillo and Paul Katami (foreground) prepare for their testimony AFER photo by Diana Walker The two primary litigators in Perry v. Schwarzenegger—the Prop. 8 trial—have demonstrated during the first three days of the trail that they are as superbly prepared as most observers expected two of the country’s most famous lawyers to be. The testimony from each of the expert witnesses has expanded on and explained in greater detail the story of discrimination that has opened the trial. Each element of the testimony has weaved through ...