Tracey Cooper-Harris, an Army veteran from California, sued the Veterans Administration and the DOJ in federal court on February 1, 2012, asking for her wife to receive the benefits normally granted to spouses of disabled veterans. BLAG sought a delay in "Cooper-Harris v. United States" pending the resolution of "Golinski", which the attorneys for Cooper-Harris, the Southern Poverty Law Center, opposed. The court denied BLAG's motion on August 4. In February 2013, Judge Consuelo Marshall rejected the DOJ's argument that the case could only be heard by the Board of Veterans' Appeals and allowed the case to proceed. BLAG asked to withdraw from the lawsuit on July 22.