Rare good news made even better by chatter that the Pentagon may comply with the order. Let’s hope the DOJ is on the same page as well:
A federal judge ordered an immediate halt Tuesday to discharges of openly gay and lesbian soldiers under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, rejecting the Obama administration’s request to wait until Congress acts on the issue.
U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips of Riverside ruled the 1993 law unconstitutional Sept. 9, saying it intrudes on service members’ personal lives and freedom of expression and reduces military effectiveness by needlessly excluding qualified personnel.
Her injunction Tuesday requires the government “immediately to suspend and discontinue any investigation, or discharge” of service members based on their sexual orientation.
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I was trying to think this through yesterday.
On one hand, if the Executive Branch just accepts this decision and acts accordingly, the heat is off Obama. DADT is gone and no one has to take responsibility for action.
But if they did that, could some crazy pick it back up in the future and appeal to a higher court to get DADT back on the books. Or could Congress make an explicit law?
So does the DOJ have to appeal just to make sure DADT is struck down for good?
If a law is unconstitutional, it can’t be polished a bit, dusted off, and thus become constitutional. And, the DADT is clearly unconstitutional.
However, if it does get appealed, and I expect it to be, the current Supreme Court will quickly rule it to be not only constitutional, but the original founders specific desire, and possibly suggest that the law include castration for those who “tell”. And, of course, they will require that the castrations be done by US corporations, paid for by the middle class.
I don’t anticipate an appeal because the Pentagon is now firmly committed to ending the policy. Gates and Mullen have essentially told the services to salute the flag and obey orders.