Department Of Justice Asks Supreme Court Support Appellate Court Ruling And Allow Continued Enforcing Of Military Ban On Openly Gay Service Members

CNN reports that the Department of Justice requested that the United States Supreme Court support an appellate panel’s ruling that would permit the military to temporarily continue enforcing the policy that prohibits openly gay service members. Acting Solicitor General Neal Kumar Katyal argued that the justices should reject a request made by the Log Cabin Republicans to reinstate a federal judge’s injunction against the policy known as “don’t ask, don’t tell. A support document written by the under secretary of defense for personal and readiness Clifford L. Stanley read in part “The government intends to appeal” the federal judge’s injunction and that “During the pendency of that appeal, the military should not be required to suddenly and immediately restructure a major personal policy that has been in place for years, particularly during a time when the nation is involved in combat operations overseas.” The Log Cabin Republicans, who brought the suit that Judge Virginia A. Phillips ruled on, had argued that allowing the policy to remain in place pending an appeal is unacceptable and cause “irreparable harm.” However, Katyal said that the case “does not present the sort of exceptional circumstances that warrant interference with an interim order of the court of appeals. That court’s stay simply preserves the status quo pending its consideration of the merits of this facial challenge to a federal statute governing military affairs that has been in force for 17 years.”