The Prop 8 trial Perry v. Schwarzenegger won’t be televised — at least not by CourtTV (TruTV?). Judge Vaughn Walker today decided he would let the court’s closed circuit cameras record the proceedings, and release the footage on a one-tday delay to YouTube. Which is like working on newspaper time, not blog time. Meanwhile, any witness that doesn’t want to be recorded simply has to ask; Walker will order the camera turned off.
Watch the clip above to see how three tech workers today tested out the system. Exciting stuff!
Jaroslaw
I’m sorry to say this delay and censoring and witness “opt out” of being photographed doesn’t surprise me.
I think I learned in history class that the Congressional record can be edited in any fashion before it is sent to the presses. Wonder if that is still true.
terrwill
No. 1 · Jaroslaw: Didn’t the Bush administration do that every day??? : P
FakeName
I think I learned in history class that the Congressional record can be edited in any fashion before it is sent to the presses. Wonder if that is still true.
It’s called “revising and extending” and while it’s mostly so that Congress members can add material to the record without reading it word-for-word on the floor, it can be used to excise things actually said.
The Bush administration, being part of the Executive branch, had no power to revise and extend he record of the Legislative branch.
Eric
Props to the Courage Campaign for their mobility. Why the silence from HRC?
Steve
The identity of every witness, and the transcript of every minute of testimony, is public record in every federal case. There are extremely few exceptions, mostly for national security reasons. Any audio or video recording made by court employees, is also public record. I intend to read the transcript. I read a lot faster than people talk in any case. I read most political speeches anyway — for just that reason.
The main thing is that the trial should be fair, that it should reach a just decision, hopefully in our favor. This stuff about the video is just a side-show.
I expect a number of reporters and bloggers will compare the transcript with the video, and report about any difference. The fact of a difference might even be bigger news than the omitted content would have been.
B
In No. 5, Steve wrote, ” This stuff about the video is just a side-show.” Not really – the reason the opposition doesn’t want it to appear on TV is that a lot of people, including a lot of Proposition Eight supporters, will watch it. Then they will hear long and very cogent arguments from Theodore Olson and David Boies explaining why the Proposition Eight supporters are wrong.
What the “Yes on Eight” side is afraid of is that Olson and Boises, even if they don’t win the case, will change the opinions of a few percent of the voters. And that’s all our side needs to win in an election if we don’t win in court first.
The videos are a big deal because it would cost millions to get that sort of exposure in “outreach” campaigns, and it would
probably help nationwide (assuming that the trial is shown outside the state as well).
Jaroslaw
I know the Congressional record comment I made doesn’t directly relate to this post, but #3 FakeName – I understand what you’re saying but if one is presented with a “record” of what went on that day in Congress, then it SHOULD reflect exactly what went on. Revising, excising etc. is a perfect vehicle for fraud, deceit, misrepresentation etc. Don’t you think?
B
No. 7 · Jaroslaw wrote, “I know the Congressional record comment I made doesn’t directly relate to this post, but #3 FakeName – I understand what you’re saying but if one is presented with a “record” of what went on that day in Congress, then it SHOULD reflect exactly what went on. Revising, excising etc. is a perfect vehicle for fraud, deceit, misrepresentation etc. Don’t you think?”
But you need some way of correcting typos – the person transcribing what was said can make mistakes. ALso, if a congress person says, “I support – I mean oppose – this bill,” correcting a misstatement on the spot, it’s reasonable to revise that to say “I oppose this bill” to reflect the actual meaning – doing that make the record easier to read.
PopSnap
This is exciting because it really is one of the best things we have going for us right now. Imagine how huge it would be if we win. It’ll be 5-4 in our favor, with Kennedy being the swing 5th vote.