Gay Marriage Foes Challenge Trial Idea

With closing arguments still pending in the Proposition 8 trial in California, opponents of marriage equality have resorted to questioning the legitimacy of a trial as a way to settle an issue.

According to The New York Times, the latest complaints are an extension of marriage equality opponents' long-running argument that the question does not belong in the courts.

"They say Judge Vaughn R. Walker, the chief judge of the Federal District Court in San Francisco, made a serious mistake by calling for a trial in a challenge to California's ban on same-sex marriage rather than deciding the case based on paper submissions," reports the Times.

Opponents say that California voters received all the evidence they needed during the Prop. 8 campaign in summer and fall 2008.

"To think that somehow the rules of evidence can lead you to the right answer is just not right," said Jordan W. Lorence, a lawyer with Alliance Defense Fund and a member of the trial team for the people and groups who intervened to defend the ban after state officials would not, according to the Times. "There should not have been a trial."

Theodore B. Olson, who represents the plaintiffs challenging the marriage ban, provided his thoughts on the objections to the Times.

"They've got to complain about something," said Olson. "They think they're going to lose."