Tag Archives: Ted Olson

Sign Up Now: Petition Campaign To Televise Olson/Boies Prop 8 Trial

The Courage Campaign urges you to sign the petition urging the televising of the Olson/Boies Prop 8 trial. The presiding judge on the case is inviting public commentary prior to the decision. The landmark federal lawsuit challenging Prop 8, Perry v. Schwarzenegger (also known as the Olson/Boies case) is about to go to trial starting Monday, January 11. The presiding …

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Prop 8 Backers Fight Plan To Televise The Olson/Boies Trial

The backers of Proposition 8 say that the proposed plan to televise next month’s trial will scare off the people they have scheduled to testify. Television coverage could expose witnesses and other trial participants to harassment and intimidation, backers of Proposition 8 said in a court filing Monday. They said some of their witnesses “have indicated that they would not …

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Prop 8 Trial May Be Televised

The Ninth Circuit Court has authorized televised trials in some cases, leading to the expectation that the Olson/Boies attempt to repeal Proposition 8 will be be viewed nationwide. Guess who doesn’t like that? The Judicial Council of the 9th Circuit authorized television cameras in certain district court proceedings Thursday, reviving a national controversy just weeks before a groundbreaking trial over …

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Pre-Trial Hearings In Olson/Boies Prop 8 Challenge Begin Today

The Olson/Boies challenge to Proposition 8 gets its official start today in a pre-trial hearing in a San Francisco federal court. Karen Ocamb at LGBT POV reports: Today may mark the beginning of the end of the ugly Prop 8 as attorneys Ted Olson and David Boies lay out their federal case for why the California constitutional amendment is unconstitutional. …

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Prop 8 Backers Win Appeal To Cloak Internal Documents And Emails

The backers of Proposition 8 have won their appeal to shield their internal documents and emails from Ted Olson and David Boies, who are hoping to taking their case to the U.S. Supreme Court. The federal appeals court ruled that the First Amendment right of freedom of association would be violated if such information was to be required to be …

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ACLU Sides With Prop 8 Proponents Over Internal Campaign Documents

David Boies and Ted Olson want the backers of Proposition 8 to turn over their internal campaign strategy documents and emails in order to prove that the battle against same-sex marriage is rooted in bigotry. Yesterday the ACLU filed a motion opposing the demand, saying that forcing political strategists to reveal internal documents would stifle freedom of speech during campaigns. …

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Gay-Friendly GOP San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders To Testify For Olson/Boies

Republican San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, who in 2007 changed his mind on same-sex marriage in a tear-filled press conference with his lesbian daughter, will testify in the federal suit to repeal Prop 8 being brought by superstar lawyers Ted Olson and David Boies. San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders will be a witness in the upcoming federal court trial over …

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Olson/Boies Prop 8 Overturn Case Headed For 2010 Federal Trial

Yesterday a federal judge dismissed a challenge to Ted Olson and David Boies’ case to overturn Proposition 8, meaning the case will now be heard in federal court sometime in 2010. During the hearing, the lawyer for Protect Marriage surprised the court when he said he couldn’t say how, exactly, same-sex marriage threatens opposite marriage. The unusual exchange between U.S. …

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Ted Olson Seeks To Overturn Restrictions On Political Speech By Corporations

Mostly-conservative lawyer kingpin Ted Olson, one half of the duo working to bring a pro-marriage equality case before the Supreme Court, returned to his roots yesterday, appearing before SCOTUS (on Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s first day on the bench) to argue that laws restricting corporations from making political speech be swept away. Olson’s client, a non-profit called Citizens United, has made …

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Prop 8 Trial Set, Gay Groups Excluded

A federal judge has set January 11th, 2010 as the start of the Olsen/Boies suit to overturn Proposition 8. The ACLU, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Lambda Legal were all denied in their request to be a party to the action. The judge did allow San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera to take part, but only to assess …

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Olson & Boies: Stay Out Of Our Lawsuit

On Friday, Ted Olson and David Boies filed briefs demanding that LGBT rights groups and the city of San Francisco not be allowed to join their federal suit to overturn Prop 8. Chad Griffin, president of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which launched the suit, sent a letter in July accusing the advocacy groups of undermining the case in …

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Friendly Voices – Ted Olson

“I am getting comments from some segments of the society who feel that it’s the wrong thing to do and I’m betraying the conservative cause and things that I’ve stood for in my life. Some of it is quite hostile. But that goes with the territory. On the other hand, I’m hearing from people, including plenty of Republicans, who are …

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SF City Attorney Dennis Herrera Wants In On Federal Marriage Suit

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera has filed a request to join the Olson/Boies federal suit to overturn Prop 8. Recently the ACLU, Lambda Legal, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights also requested standing in the suit, despite a fierce rebuffing by the Olson/Boies team. The city would add “a unique local government perspective” to the case, along with …

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Olson/Boies To LGBT Orgs: Get Lost

Two weeks ago I told you that Lambda Legal, the ACLU, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights had reversed course and decided that they did want to join in the Olson/Boies federal marriage lawsuit after all. But still smarting from the way LGBT organizations dissed their proposal, the foundation supporting the superstar lawyers says they’re not interested. But the …

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Gays Orgs Reverse Course, Now Support Federal Marriage Suit

Earlier this month, a powerful coalition of LGBT and progressive groups issued a joint statement in opposition to the federal marriage lawsuit being brought by superstar lawyers Ted Olson and David Boies. Yesterday the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) announced that the ACLU, Lambda Legal, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights had reversed course and filed an amicus …

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SF City Attorney Files Amicus Brief On Behalf Of Federal Marriage Suit

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera has filed the first amicus brief in support of Ted Olson and David Boies’ federal marriage suit. “The constitutional challenge to Proposition 8 in federal court persuasively argues that the measure’s only conceivable purpose was to withhold honor and respect from the relationships of same-sex couples, and to do so to them alone,” Herrera …

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Governator Supports Prop 8 Challenge

As required by law, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had to file a response to Ted Olson and David Boies’ federal challenge to the constitutionality of Proposition 8. He did not deny the unconstitutionality of the amendment and call for swift action by the courts. Via press release from the American Foundation For Equal Rights, the backers of the suit: “Today’s …

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Anti-Gay Alliance Defense Fund Seeking To Oppose Federal Marriage Equality Suit

The anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund is seeking to formally oppose the federal marriage equality lawsuit filed by Ted Olson and David Boies. The Alliance Defense Fund filed court papers Thursday asking U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker to allow it to defend the constitutionality of Proposition 8. Gay couples prohibited from marrying filed a lawsuit in San Francisco federal court May …

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Olson & Boies On Their Prop 8 Suit

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Gay Orgs Don’t Want Federal Lawsuit

A broad coalition of LGBT rights organizations have expressed opposition to the planned federal lawsuit for marriage equality announced yesterday by lawyers Ted Olson and David Boies. From Freedom To Marry: In response to the California Supreme Court decision allowing Prop 8 to stand, four LGBT legal organizations and five other leading national LGBT groups are reminding the LGBT community …

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