By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) OCT 14 | NBC News national correspondent Pete Williams has reported from Washington that attorneys for the U. S. Justice Department have filed an appeal for a stay of the permanent injunction issued yesterday by U. S. District Court Judge, Virginia Phillips. In the court filing documents submitted to Judge Phillips this afternoon, Clifford Stanley, Undersecretary of Defence for Personnel & Readiness wrote:
"The Government intends to appeal the Court's decision. During the pendency of that appeal, the military should not be required to suddenly and immediately restructure a major personnel policy that has been in place for years, particularly during a time when the Nation is involved in combat operations overseas. The magnitude of repealing the DADT law and policy is demonstrated by the Department's ongoing efforts to study the implications of repealing DADT."
He added :
"An injunction before the appeal in this case has run its course will place gay and lesbian servicemembers in a position of grave uncertainty. If the Court's decision were later reversed, the military would be faced with the question of whether to discharge any servicemembers who have revealed their sexual orientation in reliance on this Court's decision and injunction. Such an injunction therefore should not be entered before appellate review has been completed."
Should Judge Phillips deny the appeal for a stay, Justice Department lawyers will file for an emergency stay from the U. S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Assistant U. S. Attorney Paul Freeborne wrote:
“At a minimum, this case raises serious legal questions, and without the entry of an order immediately staying the application of this Court’s judgment, defendants will be irreparably harmed before they can appeal this Court’s decision to the Ninth Circuit."
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