The OPM-Ninth Circuit Dispute, Disentangled

12/07/09 LawDork, by attorney Chris Geidner

There has been much written about Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry’s comments this weekend about Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski’s order relating to a same-sex couple’s health benefits. What’s not being written about is the other Ninth Circuit judge considering a similar dispute, Judge Stephen Reinhardt.

Looking at both of their actions should help disentangle this debate, much of which has been over-inflated and devoid of careful analysis of what is actually going on with the dispute.