Justice Department Moves to Dismiss DADT Lawsuit
The Obama Justice Deparment has moved to dismiss a court challenge to the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy filed by Log Cabin Republicans. The gay conservative group says the move was an “aggressive defense” of the ban on gay servicemembers. The Justice Department – and some gays in the military experts – say otherwise.
In July, Log Cabin’s case became the first constitutional challenge to ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” to survive a dismissal attempt by the U-S government. Now it’s going to have to survive a second.
In a filing earlier this month, The Justice Department asked the court to stay proceedings and block the discovery phase. Log Cabin national spokesperson Charles Moran said the administration’s filing is pure politics.
Moran: “These are the same type of tactics that Karl Rove used to engage in when he was a senior advisor in the White House. It’s pitting one group against another for the advancement of a legislative agenda.”
Moran says the White House is stalling on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, until it gets healthcare reform passed.
But the Department of Justice says its “legislative agenda” is actually the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. A Justice spokeswoman told OutQ News “The government’s filing makes clear that the Administration believes that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is a bad policy and should be repealed by Congress.” The motion itself says the discovery phase in the case will “impose substantial burdens on the military,” and could distract from a legislative attempt at repeal.
Gays in the military expert Nathaniel Frank says there might be some wisdom in this. He said the Obama Administration is in a “political pickle” and that the filing was “not unexpected” – but that “It’s preferable for the change to go through the legislature.”
The court is slated consider the motion on November 16th.
