Archives – January, 2010
By Julia Rosen
David Boies became a hero around these parts for his thorough embarrassing of both Dr. Kenneth Miller and David Blankenhorn during his epic cross-examinations. One of our regular Trial Trackers in the comments, the poster formerly known as Barb, even changed her username to “Lesbians Love Boies”.
We loved that phrase so much that we made it into a t-shirt. It’s available on Skreend, with a portion of the proceeds going to benefit the Courage Campaign. Think of Skreened as a more ethical Cafepress that prints all of their gear on American Apparel. So all of you gay boys can buy one too and fit your gym bodies. Or if you haven’t been to the gym in a while, there are some sweet hoodies and tote bags available.
If you are wearing one and ever run into David Boies, please do take a picture of the two of you together. We’d love to post it.
[UPDATE] You asked for it in the comments and you got it. “Boys <3 Boies" is now available for purchase!
January 27, 2010
By Julia Rosen
After Wednesday’s proceedings, our minute-by-minute liveblogging of the trial will pause until the trial resumes again for Judge Walker’s final question-and-answer session with the plaintiffs and defendants.
Meanwhile, keep checking back at the Trial Tracker for new analysis and updates as we wait for the closing arguments. There will be new content up here every day.
Of course, just because the trial will be on hiatus doesn’t mean that our work ends, or even pauses. The Courage Campaign Institute and the Courage Campaign were hard at work fighting for equality before this trial started and will continue long after Judge Walker rules.
We’d love to have you join us. Here are some ways to stay involved and get to work:
In addition, we are going to be collecting all of your wonderful personal stories, so keep your eyes out for that.
Thank you to everyone who chimed in on Rick’s “Trial Trackers: We need you” thread. There were some excellent ideas that we will be considering in the coming days.
Feel free to keep the suggestions coming in the comment thread on this post. We really enjoy hearing from you!
January 27, 2010
By Julia Rosen
Brian thought that he had the question of the day “This is a Witness for the Defense?”, but that was a little too rhetorical.
I’ve got a better one. Who was the worst witness for the defense, Dr. Kenneth Miller or David Blankenhorn? Which one did the most damage to their case. Or put another way, which one was the most helpful for our side?
I know, it’s a tough call. I’m sure we can all agree the real winner was David Boies and the plaintiffs.
Go vote!
[polldaddy poll=2604296]
This won’t be the last poll we put up. After all, there is a lot of time to kill between now and February 26th. If you have ideas for future polls you want to see run on the Trial Tracker, please chime in the comments.
January 27, 2010
by Brian Leubitz
Well, it looks like testimony has been all wrapped up. But David Boies’ demolition of David Blankenhorn — the defense’s second, and final, “expert” witness — will continue to reverberate through the record as this case proceeds forward. Was Blankenhorn an actual expert, well, let’s let him answer that:
DB: “I’m simply repeating things that they say.”
DB: “These are not my own conclusions.”
DB: “I’m a transmitter here of findings of these eminent scholars.”
And even those conclusions don’t actually support what the defense was going for with this witness. I’m pretty certain they weren’t looking for these choice nuggets:
“Extending marriage rights to same-sex couples would probably reduce the proportion of homosexuals who marry persons of the opposite sex, and thus would likely reduce instances of marital unhappiness and divorce.”
“Gay marriage would be a victory for the worthy ideas of tolerance and inclusion. It would likely decrease the number of those in society who tend to be viewed warily as ‘other’ and increase the number who are accepted as part of ‘us.’ In that respect, gay marriage would be a victory for, and another key expansion of, the American idea.”
“Because marriage is a wealth-creating institution, extending marriage rights to same-sex couples would probably increase wealth accumulation and lead to higher living standards for these couples as well as help reduce welfare costs (by promoting family economic self-sufficiency) and decrease economic inequality.”
Keep in mind, these were the words of the defense expert. Honestly, I can’t wait to see how Andy Pugno tries to tie together the mess that was the defense’s two expert witnesses. Honestly, I figured that after Boies got through with Prof. Miller, that he couldn’t top that performance. I was wrong. Blankenhorn was an absolute disaster for the defense. He had no credibility with the Judge, and his continued failure to answer questions won’t look good on a written record either.
Also, if you missed this link in the comments, one of our amazing Trial Trackers spotted this video of a gay marriage debate between Evan Wolfson, of Freedom to Marry, and Mr. Blankenhorn. If you’d like to see what Rick was talking about with Blankenhorn’s demeanor, check it out. But keep in mind, Wolfson wasn’t cross examining him, and Boies was nowhere in site.
January 27, 2010
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