Posted on 05/21/2008 4:37:24 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
Ninth Circuit Rules Against Military's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' By Pete Winn CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer May 21, 2008
(CNSNews.com) - The future of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy was cast into doubt on Wednesday.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, Calif., ruled that it is no longer enough for the military to state the policy -- which says that "homosexuality is incompatible with military service" -- when it discharges members of the armed services it discovers to be homosexuals.
In a split decision, a three-judge panel ruled that the U.S. Air Force will have to prove why it discharged Margaret Witt, an 18-year Air Force nurse, under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
Witt, a major in the Air Force Reserve, was discharged in 2004 when it came to light that she had had a lesbian relationship from 1997 to 2003 with a civilian woman. She filed suit in 2006 challenging her ouster from the Air Force.
The federal district court in Tacoma, Wash., held that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy was not subject to judicial review, and the Air Force didn't have to prove anything other than that she was a homosexual.
But the Ninth Circuit, citing the Supreme Court's 2003 Lawrence v. Texas decision, which struck down state sodomy laws, sent the case back to the lower court, ordering it to reconsider the constitutionality of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
(Excerpt) Read more at cnsnews.com ...
Gays simply don’t belong in the military or anywhere else people are in close contact with one another. I find it all I can do to restrain myself from committing assault at the gym when some guy is staring at me in the shower. Gays should stick to sodomizing each other and stay away from the rest of us.
Maybe the USSC will use this case to reverse Lawrence v. Texas.
The 9th Circuit court is the most overruled by the SCOTUS.
Time to start building an ark and let God wipe these evil bastards off the face of the earth.
There are some pretty good reasons not to allow homosexuals to serve -- like the sexual privacy of the heterosexual military personnel. I'm sure quite a few don't want to have room, shower, undress in front of or share a foxhole with someone that might have sexual attract to them.
A conservative President might consider letting the Democrats keep rejecting nominees and let the vacancies linger if the justices that retire are liberal ones. Unfortunately, McCain isn't a conservative.
wow. just wow. There is nothing I can type to rebut your arguments more than saying that and noting that it’s not a compliment in any way.
Only until "president" Barack Hussein Muhammad Obama (PBUH) gets a chance to nominate three or four justices, after which the 9th Circuit will look conservative in comparison.
Certain rights and privileges in the military have always been curtailed.
It thus seems to me that an argument can be made that the courts do not have jurisdiction over rules regarding homosexuality.
The federal district court in Tacoma, Wash., held that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy was not subject to judicial review, and the Air Force didn't have to prove anything other than that she was a homosexual.But the Ninth Circuit, citing the Supreme Court's 2003 Lawrence v. Texas decision...
This does it. I'm 100% convinced now - the 9th Circus reaches its decisions by reading chicken entrails.
I can almost guarantee that her sexuality affected the structure of her command.
“an 18-year Air Force nurse”
At 18, I really doubt she was a nurse.
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