OPM denies health-care benefits to same-sex partmers of two federal judiciary employees

03/02/09 Daily Journal (subscription required): The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which manages civil service employees, has declined to follow rulings by 9th Circuit Judges Stephen Reinhardt and Alex Kozinsky that same-sex spouses of two federal judiciary attorneys are entitled to health care benefits. Jennifer Pizer, senior counsel and director of Lambda Legal's national marriage project, suspects that "when more senior people [at OPM] look at [OPM's action] and think it through, they'll realize they were making a basic mistake."