Quote:
Originally Posted by Lamplighter
But there does seem to be unanimity among the legal dogs
that since DADT is in a law passed by Congrees, it is not like the integration
of Blacks and women in the services to be voided by executive order.
At least that is how I understand and accept what is going on now.
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It couldn't be voided, but it could be rendered toothless. But only so long as the executive order remains in effect.
It's possible that if he had issued the executive order, there would be less impetus for Congress to act, so maybe it's better in the long run to not issue the order.
The same might be true for the judicial order. It's a lower level court, so it can be overruled. If the Justice Department had declined to appeal, Congress may have thought that there was no longer any hurry to repeal the law, only to have another case come through later and put it back in effect.
Appealing to the Supreme Court is tricky. While it would be best for them to get to the Supreme Court and lose, that puts them in the position of actively supporting a Constitutional right for the government to discriminate against gays, which is not a defensible position. And given the makeup of the court, they could win, which would be the worst outcome. Even if Congress repealed the law, there would be Supreme Court precedent that homophobia is a valid government position.
I would have thought that leaving the anti-DADT judicial order in place might have been the best option. Enter the Supreme Court battle with months of openly gay military service already in place.