Law professor Howard Wasserman on the case in which the Department of Justice filed its briefs defending the federal DOMA

08/31/09 PrawfsBlawg, by law professor Howard M. Wasserman:

Arthur Bruno Smelt and Christopher David Hammer are a couple living in Orange County, California who have spent a big chunk of this decade trying to be the Mildred and Richard Loving of the same-sex marriage movement ... I am thoroughly confused by a number of decisions that Smelt, Hammer, and their lawyers (I assume there are lawyers; the district court opinion does not indicate that they are acting pro se) have made. From the outside looking in, they appear desperate to go it alone and to be heroes on this issue. But their strategic choices have been bizarre and have reflected ignorance of core Fed Courts doctrine.

The attorney for the Smelt couple, Richard C. Gilbert, said that he plans to re-file the lawsuit. Readers of this site know that I have been skeptical about Gilbert.