Judge Orders US to Stop DADT Discharges IMMEDIATELY

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Clipped from: gay.americablog.com (share this clip)

U.S. Federal District Court Judge Virginia A. Phillips ruled today that the U.S. government must IMMEDIATELY cease all enforcement of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy and must "suspend and discontinue any investigation, or discharge, separation, or other proceeding" in connection with the policy.

The injunction becomes effective immediately, although Justice Department attorneys have previously objected in court and may appeal Phillips's ruling to the U.S. court of appeals for the ninth circuit. In September they argued that an injunction against "don't ask, don't tell" would preclude the government from litigating other legal challenges to DADT as well as prevent it from considering the terms of a stay banning discharges of gay soldiers.

At a Tuesday briefing, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told The Advocate he did not know whether the Administration would seek a stay of the ruling, nor did he know if any steps have been taken to bring the Pentagon into compliance with the injunction. "Obviously, there have been a number of [DADT] court cases that have ruled in favor of plaintiffs in this case and the president will continue to work as hard he can to change the law that he believes is fundamentally unfair," Gibbs said.

From advocate.com (share this quote)

Activist John Avarosis writes that the fact that the injunction takes effect immediately is significant, and that furthermore, the ruling will act as a major test for the Obama administration's willingness to support LGBT rights:

What's interesting about that is that the Prop 8 judge did not make his ruling overturning Prop 8 effective immediately. He gave the bad guys time to appeal. In this case, the judge heard the government's arguments, and said no, I'm going to make this decision apply effective immediately. It's a big rebuke to the government's position.

The President, who is himself a constitutional scholar, has been handed the golden opportunity to end DADT once and for all. A federal judge has now ruled that the gay ban is unconstitutional, and he has ordered the federal government to stop the discharges immediately. The President now has the power - given to him by a federal judge - to do the right thing, to do what he promised, to side with the civil rights community. All he has to do is not appeal, and DADT is over.

From gay.americablog.com (share this quote)

Phillips says in her ruling that the policy:

infringes the fundamental rights of United States servicemembers and prospective servicemembers and violates (a) the substantive due process rights guaranteed under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and (b) the rights to freedom of speech and to petition the Government for redress of grievances guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

From advocate.com (share this quote)

As noted above, the ruling may still be appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court. Where the case goes from here remains to be seen, but it's obvious to all that some very serious cracks have developed in the structure of the government's anti-gay policies.