The 2010 TIME 100 just posted their annual TIME 100 list of “people who most affect our world” and included in the “Thinkers” category is the federal Prop 8 trial odd couple of Ted Olson and David Boises (pictured here in a photo by Diana Walker). In the brief piece , Joel Klein, chancellor of the New York City public-school system, writes:
“David Boies and Ted Olson, both 69, are lions of America’s legal establishment — Boies, a darling of the left; Olson, the right. Time and again they’ve clashed, most famously in Bush v. Gore, in 2000. Olson won that battle, and given how high the stakes were, the two lawyers might be forgiven any lasting bitterness. Instead, they’ve become great friends.
So perhaps it is not shocking that this odd couple teamed up to challenge the constitutionality of California’s prohibition of gay marriage. They’ve put on an extraordinary case in the federal court system and could prevail in their long-shot mission.
In today’s debates, polarization and personal attacks have replaced civility and excellence. It says a lot about Boies and Olson that they can disagree profoundly about legal issues without losing respect for each other. They remind us that the ideas binding us together in our constitutional democracy are far more important than those separating us.”
Chad Griffin, Board President of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which brought the pair together for the historic challenge to Prop 8, said:
“Ted and David deserve this honor for standing up to defend the fundamental Constitutional rights upon which our nation was founded. Their work against Prop. 8 isn’t about advancing conservative values or liberal values – it’s about the fundamental American value that every one of us should be treated equally under the law.”
Olson will deliver closing arguments in the trial, tentatively scheduled for June 16, on behalf of Paul Katami & Jeff Zarrillo and Kris Perry & Sandy Stier, two couples who want to get married but cannot because of Prop. 8.
Also on TIME’s list are Neil Patrick Harris, Elton John, Marc Jacobs, and Suze Orman.
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Good for them and good for us. They deserve the recognition and we’re entitled to the right.