While the testimony of Kenneth Miller, a professor of government at Claremont-McKenna College, sputtered during the morning session in the face of questioning from the plaintiffs’ lawyer, David Boies, the demeanor of the first witness for the defense after the break provided a noticeable contrast.

David Blankenhorn, the founder of the Institute for American Values in New York, delivered a long and carefully-worded thesis about the role and origins of marriage that drew heavily from the field of anthropology.

Mr. Blankenhorn, a native of Mississippi mindful of enunciating his syllables and answering “yes, sir” and “no, sir” to questions from both Mr. Boies and the defense lawyer, Charles J. Cooper, set out his concept of marriage as a biological and social institution central to child rearing and an institution that derived its power not from any religious sanction but from the innate importance of the nuclear family.

But Mr. Boies quickly made sure to point out the witness’s lack of formal academic qualifications as an anthropologist.

Read the rest of Garry Shih’s New York Times article here.