From Poliglot, a politcal column in one of the most reputable gay newspapers
Does yesterday's ruling mean the new military policy on accepting gays has been stayed? Not exactly:The judges' order means that a temporary stay of the trial court injunction of DADT has been granted until the Ninth Circuit can decide -- sometime after Oct. 25 -- whether to issue a stay pending the appeal of the case to the Ninth Circuit.
This does not
immediately change the military's policy of not enforcing DADT, as the Oct. 15
guidance from Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Clifford Stanley stated that, while seeking a stay, "the Department of Defense will abide by the terms of the injunction" and stated that "additional guidance" would come if a stay is granted.
This also is
not a stay of the order that will last through the appeal. This is only a temporary stay granted through the time when the Ninth Circuit can decide -- sometime after the Oct. 25 deadline given to the LCR attorneys to respond to the stay request -- whether to issue a stay pending the outcome of the appeal. The decision will likely come soon after the Oct. 25 submission by LCR because the court will not hear oral arguments in the case and stated in its order that the government will not be allowed to file a reply brief, which would happen in the ordinary course of appellate briefing.If a stay is granted pending the appeal, however, DADT would likely go back into effect in the interim, as the appeal is not even
scheduled to complete the briefing process until the second week of March 2011.
http://www.metroweekly.com/poliglot/...t-stays-d.html The Obama administration is trying to change this horrible policy in a correct and more important lasting fashion. The "stay" is for only for a few days and is to give the Plaintiffs, who got the policy overturned time to further reinforce their arguments, which they get to do without the Justice Department getting to respond. The Court has already indicated it was not inclined to grant a more lasting stay. The matter will be appealed but its far more likely to be unsuccessful later if there is no real change in how the military get its job done with gays serving openly during that time.
The Justice Department has to defend even odious laws like DADT unless they are clearly and incontrovertibly unconstitutional. People on the right have wanted to impeach Obama since before he took office. They have since advocated that he should be impeached for not doing enough to enforce laws on immigration. They would love to have him be derelict in his duty in some concrete way, like not following the process of the law, to give some superficial legal cover for their seditious actions.
A fight, whether its in the ring, or for rights isn't won or lost until the bell rings. Any "knockout punch" that Obama throws before then such an executive order, or any dive his administration takes in this lawsuit might win the round but not the battle. That will only be won through legislation (fat chance with all the present obstructionism) or through a thorough judicial process (which is what the present plan is trying to allow)
FK