Justice Dept. seeks stay on injunction of military gay ban

The Obama administration on Thursday asked a federal judge for an
emergency suspension of her recent injunction that stops the ban on
openly gay people serving in the United States military.

The Department of Justice asked U.S. District Court Judge Virginia
Phillips of California for a stay of her decision in preparation for
the government’s appeal of her ruling to do away with the law commonly
known as “Don’t ask, don’t tell.” That appeal would be made with the
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

{mosads}The Obama administration’s decision to challenge the federal
judge’s decision is rankling gay rights activists who for months have
been pressing for the repeal of the Clinton-era law. President Obama
first promised to scrap the ban during his presidential campaign.

Earlier Thursday Pentagon lawyers said that the military would abide by the injunction, but
a Pentagon spokesman acknowledged an appeal and request for a stay were imminent.

An e-mail sent to
the Judge Advocate Generals Corps on
Thursday, sent in consultation with the Pentagon’s general
counsel, affirmed the Department of Defense’s intention to obey the
injunction, yet came as the Obama administration was expected to appeal
the
federal judge’s decision and seek to block the injunction.

The Department of Defense will abide by the terms in the court’s
ruling, effective as of the time and date of the ruling, Pentagon
spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said in an e-mailed statement. The spokesman
acknowledged in the statement that the “U.S. government is contemplating
whether to appeal and to seek a stay of the injunction.”

Pentagon
officials are concerned that immediately blocking the law would create
logistical issues for a military that is deployed worldwide and would
hamper the Pentagon’s own efforts to review the impact a repeal of the
law would have on the armed forces.

Judge Phillips on Tuesday barred the
enforcement of the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” law. Phillips ordered the
Department of Defense to halt investigations and discharges of military
members stemming from the Clinton-era law. The case that won the
nationwide injunction is Log Cabin Republicans v. United States of
America. The federal judge last month issued a final ruling that “Don’t
ask, don’t tell” was unconstitutional.

President Obama has committed to scrapping the ban, and the
Pentagon is now reviewing the effect a repeal would have on the troops.
Meanwhile, the House has successfully included legislation to repeal
“Don’t ask, don’t tell” in the 2011 defense authorization bill, but the
Senate has yet to act on that legislation.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs on Wednesday acknowledged
the Justice Department is preparing to appeal a court’s decision
against the law preventing gays from serving openly in the military,
but said Obama is still committed to ending the policy.

Gibbs said the pressure is on the Senate to change the law, but the
president is still working with the Pentagon, which should conclude its
review on ending the policy in December to change the law if Congress
won’t.

Gay rights groups said on Thursday that they were not surprised by the
administration’s decision to challenge the federal judge’s decisions,
but said that they were disappointed with the outcome nonetheless.

“The president
needs to deliver on his promise to end the law this year.  Given the
uncertainty in the courts, we urge the Senate to act swiftly next month
on
repeal when they return to Washington,” said Aubrey Sarvis, the
executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, an
organization dedicated to the repeal of the law.  “Congress made this
law over 17
years ago and Congress now has an affirmative responsibility to bring
clarity
and finality to ending this law.”

—Sam Youngman contributed to this report

This story was updated at 8 p.m.