UPDATE 1/11/2010 8:30 AM:

The Supreme Court has temporarily blocked any broadcast of the trial.

Original Post:

Much of the world will experience next week’s California’s Proposition 8 trial on delay via YouTube thanks to an appeals court ruling allowing cameras to broadcast the proceedings inside a federal court room. But Seattle will be one of five cities in the nation where interested citizens can watch the proceedings via a live video and audio feed direct from the U.S. District courtroom in San Francisco where the case is scheduled to be heard starting Monday at 8:30 AM, according to a document provided to CHS by Seattle Gay News.

Federal Courthouses to Offer Remote Viewing of Proposition 8 Trial SAN FRANCISCO – A live video and audio feed from the upcoming Proposition 8 trial in San Francisco will be available for public viewing in federal courthouses elsewhere in California, and in Oregon, Washington and New York, it was announced today. Video and audio of the trial, which is scheduled to begin Monday, January 11, 2010, at 8:30 a.m. (PDT), will be distributed via electronically secure means to the federal courthouses listed below. The Proposition 8 case, officially known as Perry v. Schwarzenegger, is the first in which video will be recorded and disseminated by the court under a pilot program approved by the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit, governing body for federal courts in the western states. The civil, non-jury trial of a constitutional challenge to California’s gay marriage ban will be presided over by Chief District Judge Vaughn R. Walker of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

The Seattle viewing location will be in the William K. Nakamura United States Courthouse at 1010 5th Ave in Courtroom One (8th floor).

Prop 8 was passed in 2008 and created a California state constitutional amendment that banned same-sex marriage in the state. Next week’s Perry v. Schwarzenegger case was filed by two same-sex couples, a gay-rights group and the city of San Francisco claiming the proposition violates the U.S. constitutional guarantee of equal protection.

A ruling against Prop 8 would add yet another victory for the expansion of gay rights around the world. Washington state passed R-71 this fall extending domestic partnership rights in the “everything but marriage act.”

In case you are thinking about heading down to the courthouse and checking out the proceedings on Monday, be aware that the trial is expected to last up to three weeks. Given that the Super Bowl is a few weeks off and we won’t be able to enjoy the Vancouver Winter Olympics television broadcast live this year, might as well head downtown and tune in.

Viewing Locations James R. Browning United States Courthouse 95 7th St. San Francisco, California Library Conference Room, First Floor United States Court of Appeals Pioneer Courthouse 700 S.W. Sixth Avenue Portland, Oregon Courtroom, Second Floor William K. Nakamura United States Courthouse 1010 Fifth Avenue Seattle, Washington. Courtroom One, Eighth Floor Theodore Roosevelt United States Courthouse 225 Cadman Plaza East Brooklyn, New York Courtroom 8A South, Eighth Floor Richard H. Chambers United States Courthouse 125 South Grand Avenue Pasadena, California Courtroom Three, First Floor