Tag Archives: DOJ

Split California literally, that is. Duncan Osborne at Gay City News reports that the lawyers backing the litigants in the Smelt case, the one that has caused all the DOJ-DOMA furor, have a master plan other than marriage equality. The attorney representing two gay men who sued in state court and now in federal court in southern California to win …

Reactions to this morning’s DOJ-DOMA filing… John Aravosis at AmericaBlog: I guess this is a step in the right direction. I don’t want to fail to praise the administration for doing better, but to some degree the only reason this is “good” is because of how “bad” they did on the previous brief. In the end, they’re still defending a …

“What the White House wants is for a court to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act so that the White House and the president don’t have to take the political damage for undermining a law that protects normal marriage. President Obama ran promising he would be open and transparent, and no longer practice the usual politics of Washington, DC. …

The Obama administration filed court papers today saying that DOMA discriminates against gays, but that they must continue to defend it in court. Justice Department lawyers are seeking to dismiss a suit brought by a gay California couple challenging the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. The administration’s response to the case has angered gay activists who see it as backtracking …

Saying he has a “scheduling conflict,” former DNC chairman Howard Dean has dropped out of tomorrow’s LGBT fundraiser. The list is lengthening. John Aravois at Americablog reacts: It’s interesting that the very heterosexual Howard Dean is willing to take a stronger stand for civil rights than our own gay elected representatives, Barney Frank, Tammy Baldwin, and Jared Polis. That Howard …

“But now, a cocktail party? No, that’s not business — it’s schmoozing and sucking up, and it’s all about buying off gay leaders by seducing them, very cheaply, so the White House can help get the money coming back in, since the DNC gay fundraiser for next week is collapsing. The response so far has only been about the money …

More reaction from the Obama administration. The DOJ has agreed to meet next week with Lambda Legal, Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) and other LGBT orgs to “hash out how to proceed with pending DOMA cases.” Via Greg Sargent: The Obama Justice Department has reached out to major gay rights organizations and scheduled a private meeting for next …

Sen. Barney Frank, who issued a criticism of the DOJ-DOMA brief two days ago, yesterday said that he spoke before reading the brief and now supports it. From his official site: “When I was called by a newspaper reporter for reaction to the administration’s brief defending the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, I made the mistake of relying …

ABC’s Jake Tapper asked White House press secretary Robert Gibbs about the DOMA brief and got a typically Gibbsian response. TAPPER: Does the president stand by the legal brief that the Justice Department filed last week that argued in favor the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act?GIBBS: Well, as you know, that the Justice Department is charged with upholding …

The openly gay members of Congress have all issued statements on the DOMA hate brief. Barney Frank (D-MA): “I think the administration made a big mistake. The wording they used was inappropriate. I’ve been in touch with the White House and I’m hoping the president will make clear these were not his views.” Frank says that the DNC fundraiser boycott …

The New York Times has published an editorial slamming the DOJ-DOMA brief. If the administration does feel compelled to defend the act, it should do so in a less hurtful way. It could have crafted its legal arguments in general terms, as a simple description of where it believes the law now stands. There was no need to resort to …

Rachel Maddow hosted Howard Dean to rip into the DOJ-DOMA flap. Dean: “I think this was a big mistake.” Dean doubts “very much the president knew this was coming.”

Human Rights Campaign head Joe Solmonese has written a lengthy letter to the president decrying last week’s DOJ brief opposing the repeal of DOMA. It reads, in part: As a matter of constitutional law, some of this brief does not even make sense: DOMA does not discriminate against homosexuals in the provision of federal benefits…. Section 3 of DOMA does …

A coalition of LGBT groups have issued a joint statement condemning the Obama administration’s motion to dismiss a challenge to the Defense Of Marriage Act. Via press release: We are very surprised and deeply disappointed in the manner in which the Obama administration has defended the so-called Defense of Marriage Act against Smelt v. United States, a lawsuit brought in …

Over on Americablog, John Aravosis and Joe Sudbay are parsing the entire DOJ challenge to DOMA that was filed this morning. It just gets worse and worse. Go read their analysis. The Task Force weighs in: “DOMA is and has always been an immoral attack on same-sex couples, our families and our fundamental humanity. This law has only served to …

The Department of Justice has filed a motion requesting the dismissal of a DOMA-related federal marriage equality case which calls for states to recognize the legality of same-sex marriages from other states. (Important: this is unrelated to the coming federal case from Ted Olson and David Boies.) The motion, filed late Thursday, argued the case of Arthur Smelt and Christopher …

More change from the Obama administration. Via Matt Corley at Think Progress: In October 2006, Leslie Hagen, who was working as the liaison between the Justice Department and the U.S. attorneys’ committee on Native American issues, was informed that despite her “outstanding” job performance reviews, her contract would not be renewed. In April 2008, NPR reported that the Justice Department …