It's not dead yet, folks. Last year Judge Virginia Phillips issued an opinion calling Don't Ask/Don't Tell unconstitutional and ordered the Department of Defense to stop enforcing it. The 9th Circuit issued a stay on that order, which they subsequently lifted last week. Many thought this may indeed be the end of Don't Ask/Don't Tell, and the Defense Department began issuing orders to recruiting stations to stop excluding gay soldiers.
Fast forward to today, where the Department of Justice has filed an emergency motion asking the 9th Circuit to reverse their decision to lift the stay, effectively putting the ban on gay soldiers back into place.
Via the Washington Blade (linked above):
Late last year, in the Log Cabin Republicans v. USA case, Judge Virginia Phillips found the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ law and policy unconstitutional, and ordered the military to cease enforcing the law by placing an injunction on the policy. The 9th Cir. later placed a stay on the injunction as the Obama Department of Justice continued to appeal the case. Last week the 9th Cir. agreed with Log Cabin lawyers from the law firm White & Case that there was no need to continue enforcing the DADT policy and that the injunction on the policy should be put back in place.
DOJ has now asked the 9th Circuit to reverse that ruling.
And the chess game continues...