American Foundation for Equal Rights

WSJ: Going Hostile: Boies & Co. Attack Motivations of Prop. 8 Backers

With everything that’s gone on the past two weeks — Citizens United, Haiti, an election in Massachusetts — it’s perhaps easy to forget that a little trial out in San Francisco involving prominent lawyers and the hottest of hot-button cultural issues is well underway.

But the trial over the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8 is wrapping up its second week of testimony. How’s it gone? The Journal’s Geoffrey Fowler on Friday weighs in with a snapshot of Thursday’s proceedings, in which opponents of same-sex marriage argued that a California ban on gay marriage was motivated by hostility toward gays and lesbians, rendering the law unconstitutional. The defense is expected to begin its portion of the case on Friday. Click here for previous LB coverage of the Prop. 8 trial.

In support of their argument, the plaintiffs on Thursday called to the stand a hostile witness who had asked to be dismissed as a defendant in the case because he feared for his safety.

Read the rest of Ashby Jones’s Wall Street Journal article here.