The American Foundation for Equal Rights has posted two deposition videos of witnesses, Paul Nathanson, Ph.D. and Katherine Young, Ph.D., who were withdrawn by the Prop 8 supporters out of concern that the trial was to be videotaped, and they would be putting them in some sort of danger. However, given the testimony in the depositions they were more likely worried about what the danger to their own case.
Nathanson and Young both state that equal marriage would increase family stability, improve the lives of children, and that gay men and lesbians have faced a long history of discrimination including violence. They also acknowledge broad scientific and professional consensus in favor of equal marriage.
The backers of Prop. 8 told the court this week that they were dropping four witnesses from their witness list, leaving only two. They claimed this was due to a reluctance to testify because of cameras in the courtroom. The trial, however, is not being broadcast. We have now seen three depositions of the withdrawn experts, which would form the basis for their cross-examinations, that resulted in the experts making admissions that disagreed with the backers of Prop. 8’s case, which is what actually led to the last-minute witness list reduction.
No comments:
Post a Comment