If you’ve been following the proceedings of Perry v Schwarzenegger, the trial of the constitutionality of Proposition 8, then you know that the past 12 court days have been full of high emotional content and scientific fact. From the opening day, when the plaintiffs took the stand and explained how not being able to marry their same-sex partner has damaged them, through to the expert witnesses who explained about the history of marriage, the history of gay and lesbian discrimination, and more, then you’ve seen the plaintiffs, led by the amazing attorneys David Boies and Ted Olson, building in a very systematic way how and why Proposition 8 is unconstitutional and harms gay and lesbian people.
Equally, you’ve seen the defense attorneys completely unable to impeach either the credibility of the plaintiff’s expert witnesses or their factual testimony. What’s more, the defense so-called expert witnesses were so utterly unprepared and lacking in expertise that when David Boies cross-examined them, I almost felt sorry for them. He truly humiliated Professor Kenneth Miller, who’s supposed expertise in the ballot initiative process (and especially as it related to gay and lesbian people) was exposed for the completely empty and shallow body that it is. Miller must have felt about three inches tall when Boies was finished crushing him like an aluminum can.
But it was the sparring with David Blankenhorn that really nailed the defense’s coffin shut. Challenged on every facet of his expertise, Blankenhorn not only agreed with the plaintiffs that same-sex marriage would benefit not just the people who want to marry, the children of such couplings, and society’s furtherance of tolerance and equality, he also denied that he was even an expert, but was merely “repeating things that they say,” that “these are not my own conclusions,” and “I’m a transmitter here of findings of these eminent scholars.” His cartoonish puffery and sanctimonious buffoonery on the witness stand shredded all possible credibility with the judge.
So for now, the trial is over. February 26th is the deadline for the submission of more documents to the judge, as well as the date which we hope the judge will set the date for closing arguments.
