The Department of Justice has filed an emergency request with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals requesting a stay on the injunction barring enforcement of DADT. The DOJ requests the Ninth Circuit to enter the stay today.
Writes Chris Geidner at MetroWeekly:
The request likely will be heard by the "motions panel" for October, which is Judges O'Scannlain, Trott, and W. Fletcher.
The government attorneys go on to argue that Log Cabin Republicans does not have standing to maintain the case, a point that was argued by the government unsuccessfully at trial.
DOJ then argues, "The government has also shown a likelihood of success in its argument that the district court erred in ruling § 654 [the DADT law] unconstitutional on its face."
Finally, DOJ argues that the remedy — the worldwide injunction against all enforcement of DADT — is improper because no class had been certified in the case. In other words, because this was not a class-action lawsuit, representing all those impacted by the alleged wrong, an all-encompassing injunction like that ordered by Phillips is improper.
Said CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin:
"They are in a very bizarre position, frankly of their own making," said CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin…
…If the 9th Circuit overturns Phillips' ruling and Congress does not take any action, then don't ask, don't tell could be back.
"And the Obama administration would be responsible for that," Toobin said.
Here's the document (via Politico):
