The Bay Area blog of The New York Times reports that Judge Vaughn Walker ruled Monday that the civil rights groups that opposed Proposition 8, California’s same-sex marriage ban, must hand over some of their internal documents to lawyers for their opponents. Judge Walker’s ruling comes weeks after testimony ended in a federal trial in San Francisco over the constitutionality of the 2008 ballot measure. Closing arguments have not been scheduled. There should not even have been a trial, opponents of same-sex marriage have argued. Instead, the judge should have decided the case on paper submissions. “To think that somehow the rules of evidence can lead you to the right answer is just not right,” said Jordan W. Lorence, a lawyer with Alliance Defense Fund and a member of the trial team. “There should not have been a trial.” [The San Francisco Chronicle, The New York Times]
Judge Walker gave Protect Marriage’s lawyers until April 12 to submit their remaining evidence.
