Obama government will stop defending the DOMA

[Grumps]

Damn that powerful Homosexual Lobby!
If only other minorities like Wall Street bankers and Oil & Gas companies had that much influence.

Nobody is as powerful and as stealthy behind...the scenes as the pink mafia.

Correct, Godfather Bullmoose.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Damn that powerful Homosexual Lobby!
If only other minorities like Wall Street bankers and Oil & Gas companies had that much influence.

Nobody is as powerful and as stealthy behind...the scenes as the pink mafia.

That's what happens when you have an uncanny ability to slip effortlessly into the tightest spots.   

[bullmoose88]

Damn that powerful Homosexual Lobby!
If only other minorities like Wall Street bankers and Oil & Gas companies had that much influence.

Nobody is as powerful and as stealthy behind...the scenes as the pink mafia.

Correct, Godfather Bullmoose.

Can you give me a moment...I'm a bit tired from chasing you around these tomato plants.  My left arm hurts...my chest.

[Grumps]

Damn that powerful Homosexual Lobby!
If only other minorities like Wall Street bankers and Oil & Gas companies had that much influence.

Nobody is as powerful and as stealthy behind...the scenes as the pink mafia.

Correct, Godfather Bullmoose.

Can you give me a moment...I'm a bit tired from chasing you around these tomato plants.  My left arm hurts...my chest.

[krazen1211]

Are we debating what is legally permissible or what is overreach in a general sense? Everything we've talked about so far is legally permissible, including S&K's pull-out, but people have gotten upset for other reasons. Ditto the gag order. Various employees of S&K got the gag order through no decision of their own and obviously someone in the firm decided after the fact they shouldn't have agreed to it and added it to everyone's term of employment.

I wonder if the gag order still applies, and if so, if they can slam S&K for a breach.

I would so love it for Boehner, Gallagher, etc. to bring it on and fight this issue. They won't. Some Pubbies might like to see the Speaker of the House sue a private law firm for not gagging random attorneys who speak out against DOMA, but this isn't 2004, and that kind of random vindictiveness would play very, very poorly among the base Obama needs to come out and swing voters who don't care for that kind of persecution.

What is legally permissible. I don't have a problem with S&K; it seems pretty obvious that they wanted Clement because he's a stud, and they got him. S&K lost one of the premiere lawyers in the nation. Sucks to be them.

I wonder if there's other precedence for this. I forget what law firm defended OJ Simpson back in the day, but having random attorneys at that law firm bashing OJ certainly wouldn't have helped the defense.

[cinyc]

Well the lawyer who took the case will continue to represent the House, just not the law firm, who was bullied out of representing the House by gay rights activists.   He resigned from the firm.

Gay rights activists have a First Amendment freedom of speech. I would strongly discourage trying to censor them in the interests of your own political views, that's not consistent with democracy. Spaulding and King as a law firm has the right to decide its own affairs without you deciding for them what they have an obligation to do or not to do--that's how it works in North Korea, not the U.S. Clearly an ideologically-motivated partner went off the reservation and made a decision that was bad for the firm and wasn't thought out. The firm didn't have an obligation to consider your desire, as neither a member of the firm, a client, or John Boehner, to see your opponents crushed under their bootheel.

Did you notice that the contract to represent Boehner in this losing case included a gag order banning all members of this law firm from advocating against DOMA, even in their private time, as private individuals? Do you think it is "gay activist bullying" to oppose that provision and think it was an overreach on the part of your side to impose on a large law firm?

And I have a First Amendment right to call people who pressure law firms to drop clients what they are - thugs who deserve to have the same thing happen to them when they have a legal problem.  The right to be represented by counsel is also an important one.  Attacking lawyers for taking on a case is very weak and extremely disgusting.

And I also have a First Amendment right to call King & Spaulding what they are - cowards.  The court shouldn't have let them withdraw from representation.

I would believe that any firm would have an ethical obligation not to make public comments that cut against a case they have agreed to take, but what do I know?  My arguments are always "doomed" because I'm not "progressive".

[Gravis Marketing]

And I have a First Amendment right to call people who pressure law firms to drop clients what they are - thugs who deserve to have the same thing happen to them when they have a legal problem.  The right to be represented by counsel is also an important one.  Attacking lawyers for taking on a case is very weak and extremely disgusting.

And I also have a First Amendment right to call King & Spaulding what they are - cowards.  The court shouldn't have let them withdraw from representation.

I would believe that any firm would have an ethical obligation not to make public comments that cut against a case they have agreed to take, but what do I know?  My arguments are always "doomed" because I'm not "progressive".

You have a First Amendment right to say what you like, correct or incorrect. I admit, I get a little upset when you demand that my tax dollars fund a certain level of idiocy and political theater to appease your party's base--it just seems like a waste of money. But living in a democracy means that some of our money will go to things we think are wasteful or counterproductive, so I'm ok with the Republicans taking out my checkbook and cutting a big check to their friends to make you and others happy. Compared to what other injustices have happened in the past, it's a small thing. I forgive you.