Wow.
Didn't see this coming. Dan Woods, partner at White & Case, the firm representing the Log Cabin Republicans have asked the Supreme Court of the United States to consider reversing the stay imposed on Judge Virginia Field's worldwide injunction of the military's implementation of the “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” law.
From the Log Cabin Republican's press release:
Dan Woods, White & Case “We have today filed an application with the United States Supreme Court asking it to vacate the Ninth Circuit's order staying Judge Phillips's injunction pending appeal. We argue in this application that the Ninth Circuit order was arbitrary and an abuse of discretion and should be vacated immediately. We continue to look forward to the day when all Americans can serve in our military without regard to their sexual orientation,” said Dan Woods, White & Case partner who is representing Log Cabin Republicans.
Q: Will the entire Supreme Court be involved in considering whether to vacate the Ninth Circuit order? A: That is up to Justice Kennedy. He may decide himself or he may refer the application to the full court.
Q: How long will the review take?
A: That is also up to the court. The Court may allow the government the opportunity to respond to our application.Q: What are the next steps if the Court vacates the ruling/doesn't vacate the ruling?
A: If the Court vacates the stay order, DADT is dead pending the appeal, and we have for all inteappeal from Judgnts and purposes won. If it doesn't, we will next move in the Ninth Circuit to expedite the e Phillips's decision.
Now THAT's Fierce Advocacy.
R. Clarke Cooper, Executive Director, Log Cabin Republicans “It is unfortunate the Obama Justice Department has forced the Log Cabin Republicans to go to the Supreme Court.”
Unfortunate indeed.
More from Politico:
The Log Cabin move appears to face long odds at the Supreme Court, at least right now. In major cases, justices usually refer such applications to the full court. In this instance, Justice Elena Kagan would be expected to recuse since she played some role in strategizing about the case. In the eyes of many observers, that would leave four conservative justices (Roberts, Alito, Scalia, Thomas) likely hostile to a legal challenge to “don't ask” facing down three liberal justices (Breyer, Sotomayor, Ginsburg) who might be open to it. Supreme Court handicappers consider Kennedy the possible swing vote in such a case, but even if he joined the liberal wing, the Log Cabin application would likely fail on a 4-4 tie vote.
Still, you can never win a battle you never don't show up for. Good luck, Log Cabin Republicans. (I still can't get used to this.) Win or lose, Politico author Josh Gerstein makes an excellent point:
However, filing the application would possibly have the effect of drawing the White House and President Barack Obama further into a fight they don't have their heart in and which has caused strife between the Obama administration and gay activists who traditionally support Democrats.
