05/22/2008
Federal Appeals Court Reinstates 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Lawsuit
The Federal Appeals Court in California on Wednesday reinstated a lawsuit brought by flight nurse Margaret Witt which was dismissed in 2006 and challenged the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
Witt had served for 20 years until she was ratted out by a citizen in her home town of Spokane who, according to her attorney, called the Air Force and told them she was living with her female partner there.
The NY Times reports: "Major Witt filed a lawsuit challenging the 'don’t ask, don’t tell' policy as a violation of the Constitution’s due process and equal protection clauses. In 2006, Judge Ronald B. Leighton, of Federal District Court in Tacoma, Wash., dismissed the case. On Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the appeals court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, disagreed, reinstating much of Major Witt’s suit and returning the case to Judge Leighton for further proceedings. The decision was notable for the standard the appeals court instructed Judge Leighton to use in considering the case. The panel said judges considering cases claiming government intrusion into the private lives of gay men and lesbians must require the government to meet a heightened standard of scrutiny. The usual standard is called 'rational basis' review, which merely requires the government to offer a rational reason for a law or policy. The rationale offered by Congress for the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is that openly gay and lesbian service members threaten morale, discipline and unit cohesion. Several courts have sustained the policy as rational. On Wednesday, Judge Ronald M. Gould, joined by Judge Susan P. Graber, ruled that in cases like Major Witt’s, the government must go further than simply showing a rational basis for its action, instead proving in each case that an important government interest is at stake and that the intrusion into the plaintiff’s private life significantly advanced the interest."
Federal Court Reinstates Suit on Gays in Military [nyt]
Sphere: Related ContentPosted 8:14 AM EST by Andy in California, Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Military, News | Permalink
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It would be interesting to interview "the citizen" and get his/her views on why the major's sexual orientation was reported to the Air Force.
Posted by: Jack Scribe | May 22, 2008 9:53:22 AM
I hope it’s true that DADT, the bigoted gay bashing holdover from the Clintons administration is in trouble. Although it makes you wonder why the Democrats, who controlled congress for the last two years couldn’t even begin to muster enough votes in their party to repeal it. If it does get the ax it won’t be because the Democrats and Republicans have developed a sudden interest in the well being of GLBT and other service members. That’s unlikely given their common determination to keep them and all the GI's in the Middle East securing hegemony for US petroleum producers using genocide as their weapon of choice. They justify that genocide with the kind of racist islamophobia so familiar to readers of the Towleroad comments section.
These politicians are at ease with US soldiers getting mauled and killed by the Iraqi insurgents (as long as their children aren't involved.) The GI casualty toll is now 4079 dead and 29,978 wounded, about half of them seriously. Their only interest is in getting enough cannon fodder to continue the genocide in Iraq, which under Clinton was more properly called an infanticide because it murdered roughly half a million children, plus the additional million or more Iraqis murdered by Bush's invasion and occupation.
We should do everything we can to defend our LGBT brothers and sisters in the armed forces and everything we can to convince others not to join up and not to participate in the genocide against muslims.
Posted by: Bill Perdue | May 23, 2008 2:09:30 AM