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First the Department of Justice released the gratuitously homophobic Smelt brief. Then we read reports that DOJ had rebuffed efforts by GLAD and Lambda Legal to “sit down with top folks at Justice to talk about [other active federal DOMA lawsuits] and what it meant and to engage in more cooperative lawyering”. No surprise then that some of us were curious to see what aroma the next LGBT-related DOJ brief would emit.
The DOJ’s response to GLAD’s DOMA challenge, Gill v OPM was expected today, June 29th. However, because GLAD is amending their filing, we’ll have to wait until fall for DOJ’s response.
Update: GLAD Will File Amended Complaint
June 26, 2009The government’s response to our DOMA complaint will not be due June 29. Per agreement between the parties, GLAD will be filing an amended complaint in late July. It will include all of the tax plaintiffs (some of whom were not originally included for administrative reasons), reflect the fact that the passport plaintiffs’ issue has been resolved, and perhaps make some other changes. The amended complaint will be posted [on GLAD's website]. The government’s response will be due on September 18, or 45 days after the amended complaint is filed.
Surely with this delay President Fierce Advocate’s DOJ will have had plenty of time to comprehend the difference between professional duty and gratuitous and damaging verbal violence. Right?
19 Comments
Off topic, butWe did it!!
The City Commissioners for the City of Kalamazoo PASSED the revised version of the new city Non-discrimination Ordinance!!
(7 to 0)
This new version offers clearer protections for gender identity and a few very minor exemptions for religious organizations.
The opposition said they will begin collecting signatures for their petition. I don’t think they realize we have been preparing for this since last December.
I just had to post this before I exploded in excitement!!!!
Can youCan you put the details in a diary? I’d like to read it.
congrats!not THAT is the kind of OT i like! i hope you will write something up for us.
“now”, not “not”typos, typos…
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!Great job Kalamazoo!
“Professional duty?”There is no professional duty for a president to defend federal law in court.
According to John Aravosis, Reagan, H.W. Bush, Clinton, and W. Bush all either declined to defend or argued against federal law in certain instances. Link.
Obama would be wise to do the same.
I just finishedI wrote a diary, with links, etc.
professional dutyas in writing opinions that get the job done in a respectable manner. in the context of obama wanting us to believe that doj had to write something, we can all agree that doj could have made a cleaner job of it.
There is a duty…for the DOJ to defend federal law in court, and the instances where this is not the case are negligible and bear no resemblance to Smelt.
bullpuckyall the administration has to do to choose to not defend the law is to take a position that they believe the law to be unconstitutional.
Several legal scholars have poined this out without ever referencing the other instances cited above that you dismiss.
Nope…Not if the administration thinks the statute is unconstitutional. Obama is on record saying “DOMA is discriminatory”. And since he’s also a Constitutional law expert, you’d think he see what the GLAD & Lambda Legal experts see in DOMA’s legal flaws.
I hope we don’t see another…DoJ brief that reads like a “Focus on the Family” sermon. They should have learned their lesson by now.
…I am leaving this comment blank in solidarity with trans women for the silencing of their voices by Pam’s House Blend.
Shutting down dissent is not “Progressive.”
YeahI do agree with that part.
Sorry, I wasn’t snapping at you. Just frustrated of that same tired excuse they keep giving.
I feel usedand all the money I gave to the Obama Campaign feels like I was Bernie Madoff’ed by him.
Obama, when you make campaign promises that helped you to raise money and get elected it’s usually a good idea to adhere to them if you wish to remain in office.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss!
Maybe you feel Bernie Madoff’ed UMMM,,,,,Because we were? But I guess that is better then being McCain’ed. After all are supposed to be happy and STFU, because it could be worse.
PFFFTTT, who am I trying to fool?
You’re right, it’s not.Hijacking a thread is never ok. Please stop.
DOJ Met with Gay Legal Groups Last Week over DOMAThe leading gay legal groups, and HRC, met with top DOJ officials last week to discuss the infamous DOMA brief. There has been no press coverage of this meeting to date. The details of the meeting have not been made public, but I guess we can assume that this agreement to permit GLAD to amend their Complaint was part of it. I heard that the groups expressed in no uncertain terms their disgust with the DOMA brief, but they have not released details of the meeting. Perhaps a statement is forthcoming, but its been over a week and nothing yet.
threadjackingThreadjacking to reopen a discussion on a contentious matter is inappropriate. Consider that notice. Take it into the chat room.