The Obama administration may not be in a hurry to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, but at least it’s not actively arguing its merits before the Supreme Court. Eh?
The Obama administration has decided to accept an appeals-court ruling that could undermine the military’s ban on service members found to be gay.
A federal appeals court in San Francisco last year ruled that the government must justify the expulsion of a decorated officer solely because she is a lesbian. The court rejected government arguments that the law banning gays in the military should have a blanket application, and that officials shouldn’t be required to argue the merits in her individual case.
The administration let pass a May 3 deadline to appeal to the Supreme Court. That means the case will be returned to the district court, and administration officials said they will continue to defend the law there.
Silver linings. The move is mainly a procedural one–it buys some time and keeps the court fight out of the high stakes realm of the Supreme Court. But it doesn’t really please civil rights activists who would like to see the administration make good on its promise to repeal the policy once and for all.
