He Doesn't Know

For example, one of the arguments that the anti-gay-marriage side has increasingly turned to outside the courtroom is that allowing same-sex marriage would hurt heterosexual marriage. At the pretrial hearing, Judge Walker kept asking Charles Cooper, the lawyer defending Proposition 8, how exactly it did so. “I’m asking you to tell me,” he said at last, “how it would harm opposite-sex marriages.”

“All right,” Cooper said.

“All right,” Walker said. “Let’s play on the same playing field for once.”

There was a pause—it seemed like a long one to people in the courtroom, though it was probably only a few seconds. And Cooper said, “Your Honor, my answer is: I don’t know. I don’t know.”

[final paragraphs from Margaret Talbot, "A Risky Proposal : Is it too soon to petition the Supreme Court on gay marriage?", The New Yorker, 18 January 2010 issue date; viewed 9 January 2010.]

Posted on January 9, 2010 at 23.33 by jns · Permalink
In: All, Briefly Noted, Current Events, Faaabulosity

2 Responses

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  1. Written by S.W. Anderson
    on Sunday, 10 January 2010 at 22.42
    Permalink

    If I were a Proposition 8 supporter, I would be pretty disgusted with Cooper.
    From what I understand, trial attorneys, especially, are trained from early on
    to anticipate key questions likely to come up, and to have a ready answer for
    those questions. This is like doctors being trained from early on to recognize
    and deal with hyperventilation or choking; it's basic stuff.

    Then again, Cooper should've asked the proposition supporters who signed him
    on what their answer to that question was. And that would've triggered another
    revealingly embarrassing moment — when it was made clear to him they have
    no verifiable, logical, sensible answer themselves.

    This is the stuff of sitcoms, fercryingoutloud.

  2. Written by jns
    on Monday, 11 January 2010 at 00.09
    Permalink

    But everyone–positively everyone–knew it was true. Who thought the judge would ever ask?

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