Some news came under the radar late last night courtesy of the WSJ. According to this article(link below) the DOJ and Soliciter General have already written a brief in reference to the Prop 8 case but are waiting for the higher ups(i.e. the President) to give the OK. But here's the twist, the brief isn't the swing for the fences opinion some gay advocates were hoping for:
http://online.wsj.com/...
The people familiar with the matter said that Justice Department lawyers are drafting a brief but that top officials have yet to make a final decision whether to submit it. The brief would be signed by Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, who is arguing a separate high-stakes case involving voting rights at the Supreme Court.
...According to a person familiar with the matter, the administration's draft brief takes one of those narrower options, rather than the full-throated endorsement of gay marriage advocated by the duo of prominent attorneys challenging Proposition 8, Republican former Solicitor General Ted Olson and prominent lawyer David Boies, a Democrat.
Now, before people get upset, it is worth remembering that less than a year ago, the prevailing wisdom from a huge chunk of the gay legal community was that pushing for a whole loaf could backfire. That seems to be the concern the administration has today"
But administration lawyers worry that taking such an expansive view in legal briefs could unnerve some justices in the Supreme Court's conservative wing, the people familiar with the matter said.
I still think they're being waaaay too cautious, something this administration is usually guilty of. With the legal brief submitted yesterday from 70 republicans supporting marriage equality, and the briefs being submitted by huge chunks of the Fortune 500 being submitted as well, the administration has the cover and space to push this rock without having it backfire with the conservative majority rejecting the whole enterprise.
I count myself as someone who was a skeptic of this conservative court ever entertaining a constitutional right to marry for gay couples this early, but its getting to be enough of a possibility(say 20%) that the DOJ weighing in on that side would be a worthy endeavor.