Too Impatient for YouTube? Follow Prop. 8 Trial on Twitter.

By Joe Eskenazi Mon., Jan. 11 2010 at 7:59 AM

Categories: Law & Order

Now on YouTube ... and Twitter!

Since getting a pass into today's high-profile Prop. 8 trial at the city's federal courthouse essentially required getting a favor because you're Atticus Finch's kids, the rest of us will have to watch on YouTube.

UPDATE 8:30 -- Due to a Federal Supreme Court ruling, there will be no video at all in this case. So that makes it Twitter or nothing for fervent court followers.

If you thought a Web site that vaulted to cultural ubiquity largely via videos of Tyson the skateboarding bulldog would now be a major factor in a massive civil rights trial with far-reaching ramifications -- well, congratulations on your foresight. And yet, watching the trial on YouTube will require a day's delay. What if you're not Jem or Scout Finch and you want to know what's going on with the trial now?

Well, if YouTube is too slow, you may have to go with Twitter. Dan Levine, a reporter with the legal newspaper The Recorder, will be live-tweeting the trial (he's @FedcourtJunkie, and you can read his feed here).

Finally, we just heard from a colleague who attended this morning's sunrise vigil/pep rally in favor of same-sex marriage rights. And he relayed a clever line from one of his fellow attendees: "How do you get people to show up so early in the morning? Promise everybody a speaking slot."

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