the two most famous litigate tors in the country, david boyce was al gore's lawyer, ted olson george w. bush's lawyer. conservative and liberal icon fighting on the same team. they won the first round in federal court with the ruling thatpo to the circuit court, one level below the u.s. supreme court. today we got the ruling from the circuit court, they found it do violate the constitution. the court found that proposition 8 served no purpose and had no effect other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in california. joining us now for an exclusive interview is one of those famous lawyers, former solicitor general ted olsen, congratulatio congratulations, thanks for your type, nice to see you. >> my measure to be here, thank you, rachel. >> i'm no expert on these matters compared to you, the ruling seems to me narrowly construed to apply to the situation in california, not try to assert a right to marriage equality more broadly. is that the way that you see it and did you expect it to come out that way? >> i think it's a very broad decision. let me explain

established a commission for the preservation of the justice system that is chaired by ted olson and david boyce, speakers at this great forum in the past, and 24 of the most prominent lawyers in the country, both women and men, all ethnicities, both sides of the aisle, to look at this issue. let me tell you what we found. in hearings around the country, we found the supreme court of georgia telling us that there court is so under-funded that she has to ask nexus' lexus for pencils for her law clerks. in ohio, you cannot finally pleading unless you bring your own paper. in new hampshire, the court closed the courts to all civil jury trials for a year, a year. alabama supreme court justice said she is going to have to reduce civil trials by 50% and criminal cases by 1/3. well, we have spent $1.30 trillion in bringing the rule of law to parts of the rest of the world. the rule of law begins with one word. "access." access. if there is no access, there is no rule of law. today we have a just a step in this country where 80% of poor people do not have access to the port. -- court. we have a legal se

former solicitor general, very well-known conservative litigate tore, wonderful lawyer as well as david boyceming up together, is a very powerful message, love is not partisan. there is no party that knows love better than the other. i know there is a hlot of debates, is this a political shows, some parties may know how to love each other. love knows no boundaries, it's not just california. the 9th circuit deals with washington, we have important decision going on up there, washington state. and i hope it goes to the supreme court. why? because we learn through this process of standing up and fighting for our right, especially when you consider don't ask, don't tell being repealed, there are soldiers serving overseas right now and if they happen to be gay and they have loving partner at home, what if they die? what if the soldier dies and you drape the cass set, let's cut out stars and say you know what, you're only equal in some of those states, no, we fight for america, where all those states and i believe that love is really something that is worth fighting for. >> dan choi, melissa harris

david boyce and gavin newsome. >>> the government's right to protect public health and religion's right you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. >>> let me finish tonight with this, about the obama administration's decision that requires part of the new health care bill that religious institutions, colleges, universities and hospitals provide full insurance coverage for birth control. including iud and morning after pills. in addition, strictly defined as contraceptive. the catholic church teaches birth control and morning after pills, they view as abortive are morally wrong. they are required by law to pay for them. this is how the church sees it, something the church believes it morally cannot do. the conflict is between the right of the government to protect what it views as the public health and the right of a religion in, this case the catholic church, to practice the deepest moral believes in this free society one in which the first amendment does guarantee religious freedom. we are watching a real conflict here. it will be the duty of religious leaders to follow their conscience