DADT challenge proceeds; dissenters: "Stay in the closet!"
Posted by Harper Jean Tobin at 12:49 PM

http://polyperversity.blogspot.com/2008/12/dadt-challenge-proceeds-dissenters-stay.html

Last Thursday the Ninth Circuit denied the Government's request to have a challenge to the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy heard by the full court. A panel of the court ruled in June that a challenge to DADT could go forward, remanding to the trial court to determine whether the policy met a form of heightened judicial scrutiny. If I'm counting right, the vote was 22-6.

Arthur Leonard and Dale Carpenter both discuss the decision and its possible ramifications - and in particular the possibility that the Obama administration, which will take office before the appeal deadline, may decide not to seeking review by the Supreme Court. They also mention the possibility that the outgoing administration might rush to seek cert., putting the new guys in a pretty awkward position.