Judge Strikes Down ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Policy
A federal judge in California has struck down the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law that barred openly gay service members from military service.
Judge Virginia Phillips ruled the policy violates free speech rights under the First Amendment and due process protections under the Fifth Amendment, according to stories in the New York Times and the Washington Post.
The policy has a “direct and deleterious effect” on the armed services, Phillips wrote in the decision (PDF posted by the New York Times). She noted that the government did not call any witnesses and only entered into evidence the legislative history of the law.
Government lawyers had argued that the plaintiffs, the Log Cabin Republicans, had no standing, and that the policy is a political decision to be made by Congress, the Post says.
The plaintiffs have until Sept. 16 to submit a plan for a proposed injunction.
The Times sees the ruling as part of a trend. “The decision is among a number of recent rulings that suggest a growing judicial skepticism about measures that discriminate against homosexuals,” the newspaper says, “including rulings against California’s ban on same-sex marriage and a Massachusetts decision striking down a federal law forbidding the federal government to recognize same-sex marriage.”
