Court orders release of videos of landmark same-sex marriage trial

The videos of the case initially called Perry v. Schwarzenegger are to be unsealed Aug. 12.

A federal judge in San Francisco has ordered videos of a landmark 2010 trial that led to the striking down of California’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage be released next month.

U.S. District Judge William Orrick ruled Thursday that the videos of the case initially called Perry v. Schwarzenegger be unsealed Aug. 12, rejecting arguments from social conservatives who sought to keep the recordings under wraps.

“The Proponents again failed to submit any evidence by declaration that any Proponent or witness who testified on behalf of the Proponents wants the trial recordings to remain under seal. There is no evidence that any Proponent or trial witness fears retaliation or harassment if the recordings are released,” wrote Orrick, an appointee of President Barack Obama.

A coalition of news media outlets, including POLITICO, urged the court to make the videos public because of the public interest in the case about Proposition 8, which was approved in 2008.

U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker presided over the trial and issued a decision declaring California’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional. He rebuffed arguments that domestic partnerships were adequate for same-sex couples.

Orrick said Walker’s commitment to keep the videos for his personal use did not translate into an enforceable promise that the recordings would be unavailable to the public forever.

Walker sought to have the trial televised, but the Supreme Court stepped in to block that. The George W. Bush appointee had the trial videotaped, but the tapes were put under seal.

It was reported during the trial that Walker was gay, which led to some calls for him to recuse himself from the case, but no formal motions were ever made. He retired from the bench the next year.

In 2013, the Supreme Court turned down an appeal of Walker’s ruling, saying proponents of the ballot measure had no right to pursue the case after state officials declined to defend the law. The ruling cleared the way for same-sex marriages in California, two years before the justices issued a historic 5-4 decision legalizing such unions across the country.

Proponents of the same-sex marriage ban could ask an appeals court to block the unsealing, but Orrick signaled he won’t grant such a stay himself.