Don't Ask, Don't Tell: Today's 9th Circuit Edition

Please tell me Don't Ask, Don't Tell is finally dead. History.  So tired of waiting.

A federal law banning openly gay people from serving in the military should no longer be enforced, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday, citing the Obama administration's call for an end to "a history of discrimination" against homosexuals.

The "don't ask, don't tell" policy signed into law by President Clinton in 1993 was ruled unconstitutional in September by U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips in Riverside. A month later, Phillips issued a "worldwide injunction" against further discharges of gay soldiers and sailors, but the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in November suspended her order while the case was being appealed.

Congress, in the meantime, repealed "don't ask, don't tell" but left the policy in force until the president, the Defense secretary and the Joint Chiefs of Staff certify that enough training and preparation for integrating gays has been accomplished to avoid any damage to military readiness. The training is expected to be completed by mid-summer.

On Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit said the "balance of hardships," which had previously justified a stay of Phillips' order, had changed.

A nice explanation of what has gone down, from Joe Sudbay at AMERICAblog Gay:

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the stay of the District Court's injunction against enforcing DADT. When DADT was found unconstitutional in the Log Cabin case last October, the District Court judge issued an injunction against its enforcement. And, Judge Phillips refused to grant a stay pending appeal. Despite numerous requests (including 21 U.S. Senators) that the Department of Justice not appeal this decision, DOJ did. DOJ also immediately went to the Ninth Circuit asking for a stay pending appeal, which was granted. Today, the Ninth Circuit lifted that stay, meaning DADT can't be enforced anywhere in the world.

In part, the 9th Circuit's turnaround was due to recent statements by the Justice Department and the White House calling for "heightened scrutiny" of laws that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. This includes the Defense of Marriage Act, which deprives same-sex married couples of federal benefits.

Lessons learned:  Starting to do the right thing, leads to, well -- more doing of the right thing.  A vicious circle of achieving justice, so-to-say.