Posted on 11/02/2010 1:49:02 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
A divided three-judge panel granted the Obama administration's request to uphold the controversial "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy until all legal methods are exhausted.
Monday's 2-1 decision struck down an Oct. 12 ruling from a district court judge in Riverside, CA, which declared the law unconstitutional.
Judge Virginia Phillips, who wrote the decision, ordered a worldwide ban on the law, which prevented its enforcement until Oct. 20, when the 9th Circuit Court granted an emergency request from the Obama administration for a stay on the injunction.
The ruling was a setback for the suit's plaintiffs, Log Cabin Republicans, who had stated leading up to the ruling that they believed the higher court would side with them just as the district court had.
"The court's ruling is a disappointment not only to us, but also to all gay and lesbian service members who bravely put themselves in harm's way so that we can all enjoy the constitutional rights and freedoms that they themselves are being denied," said Dan Woods, the White & Case partner who is representing Log Cabin Republicans, in a news release.
Woods said he will discuss the decision with the advocacy group in order to determine whether they will make an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In the majority opinion, the court said it found merit in the Obama administration's argument that ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" would put national security at risk.
"We conclude that the government's colorable allegations that the lack of an orderly transition in policy will produce immediate harm and precipitous injury are convincing," read the opinion.
[Click here to read the entire Circuit Court ruling here. (PDF)]
In their explanation, the federal judges implied that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is an issue best left for Congress to decide and one that may soon become moot if the policy is voted on in the forthcoming lame duck term.
Accordingly, Peter Renn, a staff attorney for Lambda Legal, which filed a "friend of the court" brief in support of the Log cabin Republicans, reminded those affected by the decision that all legal manners weren't exhausted.
"It's important to remember what today's ruling was not: a consideration of the merits of the case," he said in a news release. "That remains for another day."
The Obama administration's motion for the stay specifically stated that members of the administration disagree with the policy.
"The president strongly supports repeal of the statute that the district court has found unconstitutional, a position shared by the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff," the motion read.
But the papers filed by the administration side-stepped the issue, saying that no legal action should be taken against "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in a court of law without "needed deliberation, advance planning, and training."
The 9th Circuit Court said in Monday's ruling that orderly transition will only happen if "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" remains law for the time being.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates will present his review of the law and the implications of its repeal by Dec. 1.
Judge William Fletcher, who wrote the dissenting opinion, said he agreed with the stay in all aspects but one. He would move to prevent soldiers from being discharged during the appeal.
"Defendants would not be required during the pendency of the appeal to change their recruiting practices, to change their personnel manuals, or, subject only to the requirement that they not actually discharge anyone, otherwise to change their practices," he wrote.
Fletcher was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, who signed the law into effect in 1993.
The Obama administration's defense of the policy in court has raised harsh criticism from gay rights groups.
"We urge President Obama to use his statutory stop-loss power to halt discharges under this discriminatory and wasteful policy," said R. Clarke Cooper, executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans in a news release. "The president claims to want to see 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' ended. It is time that he stop talking and start working to make a real difference for gay and lesbian Americans."
Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, couldn't agree more.
"For the good of our national security, the endless legal wrangling and political posturing has to stop," he said in a news release.
Score one for sanity.
You didn’t even write in a slate of electors?
Which is cited in the law.
However, unconstitutional rulemaking and regulation can be overturned by the judiciary. Heck, we'd probably have no legal exercise of our 2nd Amendment rights if that weren't the case.
Good Point
The military decided it a long time ago. NO HOMOS IN THE MILITARY!! PERIOD!!
So long as they are drawn before they are quartered.
There should be no room in the GOP for support for using the judiciary to impose leftwing policies. Support gays in the military all you want, and even call yourself a Republican, but there is no justification for supporting an activist judiciary.
A divided three-judge panel granted the Obama administration's request to uphold the controversial "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy until all legal methods are exhausted. Monday's 2-1 decision struck down an Oct. 12 ruling from a district court judge in Riverside, CA, which declared the law unconstitutional. Judge Virginia Phillips, who wrote the decision, ordered a worldwide ban on the law, which prevented its enforcement until Oct. 20, when the 9th Circuit Court granted an emergency request from the Obama administration for a stay on the injunction.
Good,keep the Army the Army.
Ha!
“Shut down the government again???? Didn’t we do that awhile back and that blew up in our faces. No that would be what the Democrats would want us to do again. Other suggestions are needed.”
There are times to draw a line in sand. It is wholly inappropriate for a lame duck session to pass legislation that the incoming congress would not. President Obama needs to be made to understand that any attempt will be met with grim response.
The current court case will go before the SCOTUS and be overturned. The court has backed DADT before.
Somebody should start a fake Democrat group... like
Democrat Pedophiles
Tree Jumper Democrats
Michael Jackson Democrats
I’ll ping it tomorrow.
Too much excitement tonight...
All wore out already!
Log Cabin Republicans
These guys are not Republicans, they should lose any standing to call themselves “Republican”.
JS
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Yes, it's back on the shelf for now. And the new Congress in January will be able to thwart any efforts to repeal it, hopefully. Although it is fine if it's repealed if it's back to "none whatsoever, nope - nosirree - closeted, open, lying, honest - none!"
*************************
No one is pro "gay marriage".
Some may be pro-homosexual "marriage" but that is not by any stretch of the imagination a real "marriage".
Thank God for the mid term elections.
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