by Becker, Jo
“This is not about me”: Ibid.
“God, it’s hard enough being a teenager”: Author interview with Ted Olson, summer 2009.
Unbeknownst to Chad: Author interview with Ted Olson, spring 2009.
When that owner threatened to call the police: Author interview with Paul Winters, summer 2009.
When a federal prosecutor was fired for being gay: OLC, Termination of an Assistant United States Attorney on Grounds Related to His Acknowledged Homosexuality, 3 (Mar. 11, 1983) (7 op. OLC 46).
Not only was it bad policy: Author interview with Ted Olson, summer 2009.
“You have to make peace with this”: Author interview with David Frum, summer 2009.
Yet even as he publicly defended the administration’s prerogatives: Barton Gellman and Jo Becker, “Pushing the Envelope on Presidential Power,” Washington Post, June 25, 2007.
“Why shouldn’t I take this case?”: Author interview with Ted Olson, summer 2009.
Then, leaning forward in his chair: Author interview with Chad Griffin, summer 2009.
Sexual orientation, Olson believed: Author interviews with Chad Griffin, summer 2009, January 2013.
“You will not believe this”: This section relies on author interviews with Chad Griffin, summer 2009.
Walking up the circular brick driveway: Author interview with Ted Olson, summer 2009.
“The time for playing it safe”: Author interview with Bruce Cohen, summer 2009.
Every major gay rights legal group in the country: Press release issued by the ACLU, GLAD, Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Equality Federation, Freedom to Marry, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, the Human Rights Campaign, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
Now, walking across the room: Author interviews with Bruce Cohen, 2009, 2010, and 2012.
“Don’t bring DOMA into this”: Author interview with Kristina Schake, summer 2009.
Its passage created what Olson would later refer to: Author interviews with Kristina Schake, summer 2009, and Chad Griffin, January 27, 2009.
“This isn’t about winning five to four”: Author interviews with Kristina Schake and Chad Griffin, summer 2009.
“I will not just be some hired gun”: Author interviews with Kristina Schake, Rob and Michele Reiner, and Chad Griffin, summer 2009.
Olson was willing to take the case: Contract signed in May 2009 between the American Foundation for Equal Rights and Ted Olson.
“I want a teacher, a police officer”: Author interview with Kristina Schake, summer 2009.
“We are going to the Supreme Court!”: Author interviews with Kristina Schake and Chad Griffin, summer 2009.
CHAPTER 3: “JUST WAIT”
But one day a friend had phoned him: Author interview with Chad Griffin, August 16, 2010.
“I can’t come out”: Ibid.
“Life is too short”: Ibid.
“I think that sometimes we think”: Author interview with Dustin Lance Black, July 13, 2010.
“King,” he told Chad: Ibid.
Jones had agreed to the meeting: Author interview with Cleve Jones, June 17, 2010.
Midway through breakfast: Author interviews with Dustin Lance Black, July 13, 2010, and January 19, 2013.
Come with me: Author interview with Dustin Lance Black, July 13, 2010.
Wolfson had berated: Ibid.
“This just means we are doing the right thing”: Ibid.
Still, it was with some trepidation: Copy of Dustin Lance Black’s March 21, 2009, speech at OutGiving.
“Harvey Milk didn’t start”: Author interview with Evan Wolfson, May 30, 2013.
But he hadn’t gotten far: Author interview with Kristina Schake, January 4, 2013.
“It just felt like there was a lot of disrespect”: Author interview with Jon Davidson, national legal director, Lambda Legal, December 23, 2013
It was not that the movement lawyers disagreed: Author interview with Ramona Ripston, former executive director of the ACLU’s Southern California office, June 27, 2013.
“Really?” said Boutrous: Author interview with Ted Boutrous, December 24, 2012.
Davidson threw a multipage dossier: Author interviews with Ted Boutrous, December 24, 2012, and Kristina Schake, January 4, 2013.
“It has to have the word ‘American’ in it”: Author interview with Kristina Schake, January 4, 2013.
“I think we should all join hands”: Author interviews with Ted Olson and Chad Griffin, summer 2010, and Ted Boutrous, January 10, 2013.
But the biggest breakthrough: Author interviews with Rob and Michele Reiner, August 6, 2010, and Adam Umhoefer, January 10, 2013.
“Whatever you need”: Author interview with Rob Reiner, August 6, 2010.
“Are we making the wrong choice?”: Author interview with Kristina Schake, January 4, 2013.
The lawyers then produced: Undated copy of “The Time Is Now” memo.
“Then if our reasons are sound”: Ibid.
CHAPTER 4: A MAD DASH
So the two political consultants: Author interviews with Kristina Schake, January 2010, and January 2013.
He wanted their lawsuit: Undated copy of “The Time Is Now” memo.
They could talk all they wanted: 2008 exit poll data.
“What about Kris?”: Author interview with Kristina Schake, January 4, 2013.
Olson had wanted to avoid: Author interview with Kristina Schake, January 2010, and Ted Boutrous, March 12, 2013.
But Kris was so excited: Author interviews with Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, summer 2009.
“This is literally making me nauseous”: Author interviews with Paul Katami and Jeff Zarillo, January 8, 2010.
Afterward, at the diner: Ibid.
The first person Olson approached: Author interviews with John August, March 3, 2012, and Adam Umhoefer.
Smith, who had recently been asked: The following conversation was recounted in an interview by the author with Paul Smith, November 6, 2012.
Olson disagreed: Author interview with Paul Smith, November 6, 2012.
“We’ve got the right district”: Author interview with Ted Olson, summer 2010.
Another potential co-counsel: Author interviews with Dennis Herrera, San Francisco city attorney, January 19, 2010; John August, AFER donor, March 3, 2012; Paul Smith, May 2013; and Chad Griffin, April 16, 2012.
Bringing her on board: Author interviews with John August, March 3, 2012, and Adam Umhoefer, undated.
After securing Chad’s: Author interview with Rob Reiner, August 6, 2010.
Olson called Boies’s firm: November 29, 2012, e-mail from Alison Preece, communications coordinator, Boies, Schiller & Flexner, LLP.
“Let’s do it”: Author interview with David Boies, summer 2009.
represented a fraction: Contract signed in May 2009 between the American Foundation for Equal Rights and David Boies.
CHAPTER 5: GOING PUBLIC
Enrique Monagas, an associate: The following section draws upon author interviews with Enrique Monagas, January 6, 2009, and June 19, 2010.
“Unfortunately, gentlemen”: Author interview with Paul Katami and Jeff Zarillo, conducted on January 8, 2010
“We are going to plan your wedding”: Author interview with Paul Katami and Jeff Zarillo, summer 2009.
“These are our neighbors”: Transcript of the May 27, 2009, AFER press conference.
“Oh shit”: Author interview with Judge Vaughn R. Walker, November 21, 2012.
The sixty-five-year-old judge: Author interview with Judge Vaughn R. Walker, December 4, 2012.
And so he had stayed mum: Author interview with Judge Vaughn R. Walker, November 21, 2012.
Judges are required to disqualify: 28 U.S.C. § 455(a), 455(b)(4).
He wo
uld later tell friends: Author interviews with retired San Francisco superior court judge James Warren, December 9, 2011, and Judge Vaughn R. Walker, November 21, 2012.
Given DOMA, it made no financial: Author interview with Judge Vaughn R. Walker, December 23, 2012.
African American judges hear: Author interview with Judge Vaughn R. Walker, December 23, 2012.
“I don’t want to get into an argument”: Author interview with Robert Bork, summer 2009.
To many adherents of this school: Michael J. Klarman, “Brown and Lawrence (and Goodridge): Historic Rulings and How Judicial Decisionmaking Influences Social Reform Movements,” Michigan Law Review 104, no. 3 (December 1, 2005).
Seated at Olson’s table: Author interview with Robert McConnell, summer 2009.
“It is a badge I will wear”: Author interviews with Ted Olson and Kate Kendall, summer 2009.
CHAPTER 6: “PROVE IT”
Kristina had back-channeled: Author interview with Kristina Schake, January 2010.
Unbeknownst to the public: Author interview with Daniel Zingale, 2011.
“Prove it”: Author interview with Judge Vaughn R. Walker, November 21, 2012.
The landmark Romer case: Evans v. Romer, 882 P.2d 1335, 1347 (Colo. 1994).
But Olson, unlike Boies, was not: Author interviews with Ted Olson and Ted Boutrous, January 2010 and January 2014.
Olson had pulled Cooper aside: Author interview with Chuck Cooper, May 8, 2013.
“They need our help”: Author interview with Terry Stewart, January 19, 2013.
“We think it will be very helpful”: Lisa Leff, “Gay Legal Groups Want In on California Case,” Associated Press, July 9, 2009.
It was also the last thing: Author interview with Kristina Schake, September 8, 2013.
“I can help give you cover”: Author interview with Dennis Herrera, January 19, 2010.
Watching that victory be snatched: Author interviews with Terry Stewart and Carole Scagnetti, December 1, 2010.
Gay marriage opponents: Author interviews with Chuck Cooper, May, 8, 2013, June 1, 2013, and June 19, 2013.
But a group called the Campaign for California Families: Transcript of August 19, 2009, hearing in U.S. District Court.
Walker was stunned: Author interview with Judge Vaughn R. Walker, November 21, 2012.
Judges are not supposed: Ibid.
“I’m going to hang him”: Author interview with Chad Griffin, August 21, 2009.
CHAPTER 7: WHERE’S DAVID?
Nationally, polls put public support: Gallup and Pew Research Center polling data.
There was also some concern: Author interviews with Matt McGill and Chris Dusseault, May and June 2013.
Stewart, of the San Francisco Attorney’s Office: August 2009 e-mails between Terry Stewart’s office and Gibson Dunn.
When citizens, such as Tam: Author interview with Terry Stewart, June 13, 2010.
Olson, however, was initially reluctant: Author interviews with Terry Stewart, June 13, 2010, Matt McGill, January, 2010, and Ted Boutrous, March 12, 2013.
Portraying the proponents: Author interview with Ted Boutrous, March 12, 2013.
Olson knew that Boies: Author interview with David Boies, June 25, 2010.
“Not everyone is a genius”: Author interviews with Ted Olson, January 2010, and David Boies, June 15, 2010.
CHAPTER 8: AN UNEXPECTED DEVELOPMENT
“You need to move fast”: Author interview with Rick Jacobs, August 6, 2010.
Olson understood, but he worried: Author interview with Ted Olson, January 9, 2010.
CHAPTER 9: “ALL RISE!”
One of the first questions she had asked: Author interview with Sandy Stier, December 5, 2010.
Olson was just hitting his stride: Author interview with Matt McGill, January 11, 2013.
Olson’s own mother: Author interview with Lady Olson, summer 2010.
Cooper’s theory of the case: Author interview with Chuck Cooper, June 1, 2013.
“Loving is by far [Olson’s] best case”: Ibid.
It had been difficult for Cooper: Author interview with Chuck Cooper, June 1, 2013.
Though he believed that the burden: Ibid.
“The media focus on this case”: Ibid.
An Oxford University philosophy professor: Videotaped deposition of Daniel N. Robinson, Washington, D.C., December 18, 2009.
Loren Marks, a professor: Videotaped deposition of Loren Marks, Washington, D.C., October 30, 2009.
“I wouldn’t have wished fifteen minutes”: Author interview with Loren Marks, May 7, 2013.
Katherine Young was to have testified: Videotaped deposition of Katherine Young, Montreal, Canada, November 13, 2009.
Forced to acknowledge: Videotaped deposition of Paul Nathanson, Montreal, Canada, November 12, 2009.
It was, Nathanson would later say: Author interview with Paul Nathanson, May 6, 2013.
CHAPTER 10: “A HIGHER ARC”
Pulling up to the courthouse: Author interview with Elliott Perry, August 25, 2012.
But Jones’s optimism: Author interviews with Elliott and Spencer Perry, August 25, 2012.
Elliott seemed surprised: Author interview with Elliott Perry, August 25, 2012.
In the weeks leading up to the trial: Author interview with Chuck Cooper, June 1, 2013.
And atmospherically, it would: Ibid.
And that was the problem Cooper: Ibid.
Spencer, sitting behind his mother: Author interview with Spencer Perry, August 25, 2012.
“Oh my God, that’s Chad”: Author interview with Kristina Schake, January 25, 2010.
Kris’s boys had never seen: Author interview with Elliott Perry, August 25, 2012.
Olson, oblivious to the effect: Author interview with Ted Olson, January 11, 2010.
“When you get hit like that”: Author interview with David Boies, January 11, 2010.
Olson got closer to the truth: Author interview with Ted Olson, January 11, 2010.
CHAPTER 11: HISTORY LESSONS
Over the course of the trial: Author interview with Vaughn Walker, November 21, 2012.
Cooper’s researchers had compiled: Author interview with Chuck Cooper, June 19, 2013.
Burke . . . the father of American conservatism: Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France (New York: Penguin Classics, 1986 [1790]).
The point Thompson was making: Author interview and e-mail exchanges with Chuck Cooper, June 19–20, 2013.
“That was, if not the most important concession”: Author interview with Chuck Cooper, December 10, 2013.
CHAPTER 12: A DAY OF SURPRISES
Cooper had never disputed: Author interviews with Chuck Cooper May 8, 2013, and June 1 2013.
Boies had even taken to publicly: Maureen Dowd, “An Odd Couple Defends Couples That Some (Oddly) Find Odd, New York Times, January 16, 2010.
The first Cooper heard of Tam’s views: Author interview with Chuck Cooper, June 1, 2013.
Cooper had refused to continue: “An Interview with Terry L. Thompson,” Lifeline 15, no. 2 (Summer 2006): 4.
Cooper would later say: Author interview with Chuck Cooper, June 1, 2013.
“Trial is a young man’s game”: Author interview with Lady and Ted Olson, January 13, 2010.
“This was a smackdown of Judge Walker”: Author interview with Matt McGill, January 13, 2010.
“I haven’t had many gay and lesbian friends”: Author interview with Amir Tayrani, January 23, 2010.
CHAPTER 13: STIGMA
Now, listening to Meyer talk: Author interviews with Sarah Piepmeier, January 18, 2010, and Ted Boutrous, July 20, 2013.
Chad and the plaintiffs wove: Author interview with Elizabeth Riel, communications consultant for the American Foundation for Equal Ri
ghts, June 2012.
But surrogates like Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: “The Public and Prop 8,” editorial, Los Angeles Times, January 11, 2010, and “Discrimination on Trial, but Not on TV,” editorial, New York Times, January 14, 2010.
CHAPTER 14: ON PARENTS AND FAMILIES
For a law to pass the rational basis test: Heller v. Doe, 509 U.S. 312, 320 (1993), Vance, 440 U.S. at 111.
Another of the article’s assertions: S. Golombok and F. Tasker, “Do Parents Influence the Sexual Orientation of Their Children?” Developmental Psychology 32 (1996).
He was unquestionably self-promoting: Author interview with Terry Stewart, January 15, 2010.
Zia was a former executive editor: Author interview with Rosanne Baxter, January 15, 2010.
Back at the Gibson Dunn offices: Author interview with Dawn Schneider, director of communications for Boies, Schiller & Flexner, January 12, 2010.
CHAPTER 15: WHO’S A BIGOT?
Herrera understood the concern: Author interviews with Dennis Herrera, January 19, 2010, and Chris Dusseault, January 20, 2010.
By showing that it was possible: Ibid
CHAPTER 16: A COURTROOM JOURNEY TO THE NETHERLANDS, VIA MASSACHUSETTS
Cooper, like Olson, had for the most part: Author interview with Chuck Cooper, July 26, 2013.
Cooper knew going in: Ibid.
CHAPTER 17: A JUDGE’S MEMORIES
Listening to the evidence day after day: Author interview with Judge Vaughn Walker, November 21, 2012.
“I decided to see a psychiatrist”: Author interview with Judge Vaughn Walker, December 2, 2012.
Walker glanced at Boies: Author interview with Judge Vaughn Walker, November 21, 2012.
CHAPTER 18: GOD, GAYS, AND POLITICAL POWER
But as much as Olson wanted to be sensitive: Author interview with Ted Boutrous, July 28, 2013.
One of the chief architects of the campaign: Author interview with Maggie Gallagher, November 6, 2012.
There was even a “Pastors’ Rapid Response Team”: Plaintiffs’ Exhibit No. PX2554, Perry v. Schwarzenegger, 704 F.Supp.2d 921 (N.D. Cal. 2010) (No. C 09-2292 VRW).
Even if he could have convinced: Author interview with Chuck Cooper, June 1, 2013.
Afterward, Boies said he found Thompson’s style: Author interview with David Boies, January 20, 2010.
