Cott
Today, it was about the experts.
First up was Harvard Professor Nancy Cott, who began testifying on Monday about the history of marriage. Already today, she shocked the courtroom by testifying that George Washington — yes, the Father of our Country — could not have children as part of her testimony about the historical disconnect between marriage and procreation.
Talking about marriage restrictions throughout U.S. history, Cott noted, per Dan Levine, that “one 1907 federal law said any American woman who married a foreigner would lose their U.S. citizenship.”
The cross-examination of Professor Cott was described by observers as tense, with Mr. Thompson, the attorney for the Proposition 8 proponents, bringing a large binder containing what turned out to be materials as far-ranging as a 30-year-old article by Cott and the reading list for a class Cott taught. The purpose of the cross-examination was two-fold: to paint her as biased and to paint her ideas as outside of the mainstream. References to polyamory and polygamy were peppered throughout Thompson’s questioning.
The plaintiffs’ lawyers then took some time on redirect examination to tidy up some of Cott’s answers, and Judge Vaughn Walker asked some questions of his own.
The Court then took a recess for lunch.
Chauncey
The other expert testifying today was Yale Professor George Chauncey, an author of some renown on issues relating to “gay history.” He testified about the history of discrimination against LGBT people, drawing the court through police harassment and extreme government discrimination to the Dade County Anita Bryant Campaign of 1977 to the Proposition 8 campaign in 2008.
From across the country, his testimony was striking and powerful. I hope that we will soon get to see the video of his testimony.
The cross-examination lasted only 10 minutes today, as the court then recessed for the day.
I’ve made Chauncey’s affidavit submitted in Gill v. Office of Personnel Management et al., the case brought by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, available here (pdf). In it, he discusses many of the same issues at question in today’s testimony.
SUMMARIES:
- The New York Times, “History Lessons,” by Gerry Shih
- Newsweek, “The Relevance of Slavery,” by Eve Conant
Also, not to be missed is Nate Silver’s look into divorce rates and marriage prohibition amendments.
The three spots for liveblogging/tweeting about the trial are:
- My Twitter list of people livetweeting
- FireDogLake’s The Seminal – Tuesday morning;
- The Courage Campaign’s Prop 8 Trial Tracker
Popularity: 14% [?]
Chris Geidner is the award-winning senior political editor at D.C.'s Metro Weekly and has written for The Atlantic Online, The American Prospect, Advocate.com, Salon and other publications, as well as at his blog, Law Dork. In 2011, he received the Excellence in News Writing Award from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his coverage of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal. Prior to moving to D.C. in 2009, he served as an attorney on the senior staff at the Ohio Attorney General's Office and had earlier worked for a leading Columbus law firm. An extended biography can be found