Proposition 8 Trial: Day One

The Mercury News is providing excellent coverage of the Prop 8 trial.  This is especially important, given that the US Supreme Court issued a temporary ban on video coverage of the trial.

Here's a summary of what the Mercury News had to say:

"(Judge) Walker did not tip his hand through his questioning, but interjected often with musings that pointed in all directions. At one point, he asked Theodore Olson, one of the lead plaintiffs attorneys and former U.S. Solicitor General during the Bush administration, 'Why shouldn't the courts stand back and let this develop?'

At another point, he flipped the question on Charles Cooper, the lead attorney for the Prop 8 campaign, who insisted judges should stay out of the fight and allow voters in states such as California decide on the definition of marriage. 'There are certainly lots of issues taken out of the body politic," the judge replied. 'Why isn't this one of them?"

But the highlight of the trial seemed to be the testimony of the two couples who are bringing the case to federal court:

Under questioning from Olson and David Boies, another high-profile attorney, the four plaintiffs described their difficult roads to "coming out" and their quest to marry their partners. 'There's something humiliating about everybody knowing you want to make that decision (to marry), and you don't get to,' Perry told the judge.

Tomorrow, Nancy Cott (left)will be the first expert witness in the trial.  She is a Harvard University historian who will be testifying on behalf of the "Perry" (the plaintiffs favoring same-sex marriage).