The Department of Justice last night filed a 10-page supplement attempting to enhance and explain parts of its recent arguments to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in the Log Cabin Republicans v. United States 'DADT' lawsuit.
Writes Chris Geidner at MetroWeekly:
The government this evening continued its attempt to keep the end of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in the hands of the executive branch, asking a federal appeals court to keep the policy in place for now and hold off on hearing the appeal of the Log Cabin Republicans v. United States lawsuit — which is scheduled for Sept. 1 — in order to allow the "orderly process for repealing" the DADT law to continue under the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act.
DOJ is asking the court to reconsider reinstating its November 2010 stay, which it had lifted in a July 6 order stating that circumstances had changed significantly since the court had issued the stay. While it considers the July 14 request, the appellate court partially reinstated the stay in a July 15 order that prohibits "investigating, penalizing, or discharging" servicemembers under DADT.
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DOJ concluded by asking that the court "reconsider its decision to lift the stay pending appeal, reinstate that stay, remove the case from the oral argument calendar, and permit the orderly process for repealing § 654 to resume."
The Pentagon just needs to certify the darn thing already.
