Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
Pam's House Blend has more information on George Rekers, the anti-gay bigot that the state of Florida used to defend their ban on gay adoption in the state case overturning that ban last week. It turns out Florida is not alone in using Rekers to testify on their behalf in a court case and have the judge remark that he didn't help their case at all:
In 2005, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Timothy White ruled that the state did not have justifiable grounds to keep gays from adopting children.The Arkansas court specifically said that "Dr. Rekers' willingness to prioritize his personal beliefs over his functions as an expert provider of fact rendered his testimony extremely suspect and little, if any, assistance to the court" and "Dr. Rekers' personal agenda caused him to have inconsistent testimony on several issues."
Second, the post notes that Florida paid him a $60,000 retainer for his work as an expert witness. By comparison, none of the expert witnesses for the plaintiffs in the Dover case were paid for their work, much less a ridiculous amount of money like that. And that happened in the Arkansas case as well, only $60,000 was not enough for Rekers:
Rekers would later sue the state of Arkansas for $200,000 for his testimony but settled out of court for $60,000.
Being a bigot who distorts science to conform to your religious beliefs seems to pay quite well.
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Rekers would later sue the state of Arkansas for $200,000 for his testimony but settled out of court for $60,000.
I'm guessing his lawsuit revolved around allowing himself to ruin his own reputation with his testimony. If the state was competent, no one would realize how bigoted he was.
Posted by: Odie | December 2, 2008 9:53 AM
Seriously, how does one get to be an expert witness anyway? Is there any kind of vetting process? If so, what is it, and why wasn't it used here? - Curiously DJ
Posted by: DingoJack | December 2, 2008 10:00 AM
Being a "scientist" willing to cater to a bigoted agenda roundly dismissed by your peers pays well. I will admit that I have been tempted from time to time to grab the brass ring of "contrarian" science. But I have some integrity.
Posted by: Shygetz | December 2, 2008 10:00 AM
The judge of course is a judicial activist. And George Rekers is definitely not gay, of course.
Posted by: reindeer386sx | December 2, 2008 10:08 AM
Self-sabotage perhaps? It's possible that someone wanted to lose and hired a blatently obvious bigot to make sure it happened. Or I'm confusing strategy and stupidity, it's florida so it's anyones guess....
Posted by: Ramel | December 2, 2008 10:10 AM
Coincidently it's the ruling of an activist judge which allows me to express my feelings about the Florida decision. Hoorah!
Posted by: Abby Normal | December 2, 2008 10:22 AM
I absolutely LOVE the idea that Florida picked this guy on purpose to throw the case :-)
Posted by: John K. | December 2, 2008 10:28 AM
It's possible that someone wanted to lose and hired a blatently obvious bigot to make sure it happened.
You might be on to something there. He is a blatently obvious bigot, and is absolutely not gay (which goes without saying, of course.) George Rekers is soooooo not gay.
Posted by: reindeer386sx | December 2, 2008 10:43 AM
Well, anyone can be retained as an expert witness. The question is whether their testimony is admissible. The Daubert standard should give you an idea of how it works.
Posted by: D | December 2, 2008 11:13 AM
My father's been an expert witness a few times in securities law cases. I can assure you he was never paid $60k, let alone $200k.
Posted by: Ginger Yellow | December 2, 2008 11:18 AM
Ginger Yellow:
I guess that's the beauty of market forces. If you're selling something that people want to buy (in this case, homophobic bigotry) you can command a pretty high price.
Posted by: Chiroptera | December 2, 2008 11:46 AM
Not really market forces given that one side of the transaction was the government and that it was a settlement, but point taken.
Posted by: Ginger Yellow | December 2, 2008 12:04 PM