DADT Halted…For Good?

Flickr Creative Commons/<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/-marlith-/3348386056/">Marlith</a>

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Just a few weeks ago, it looked like “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was here for the duration. Congress backed down from a half-hearted attempt to repeal it, and Republicans looked poised to take back the House (at a minimum), thus protecting their constituents from the specter of military gayification.

Guess we forgot about “activist judges,” though.

Federal district court judge Virginia Phillips ruled Tuesday afternoon that DADT was a First Amendment violation of the first order. The rule “infringes the fundamental rights of United States servicemembers and prospective servicemembers,” she said, entering an order to block the rule’s enforcement nationwide. That goes not only for future cases, but pending ones, too: Phillips enjoined the Defense Department to “immediately to suspend and discontinue any investigation, or discharge, separation, or other proceeding, that may have been commenced under the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Act…on or prior to the date of this Judgment.”

Translation: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out.

For the record, Phillips was ruling on a motion filed not by Democrats, or the Obama administration, but by the Log Cabin Republicans, a conservative gay group that’s received its share of opprobrium both from fellow GOPers and fellow LGTBs.

John Avarosis of the Advocate points out that the immediacy of Phillips’ order will make it that much harder to revive DADT. And why would the federal government want to? As Avarosis says, this gives Barack Obama all the cover he needs to let the military’s anti-gay policy die a quick death. “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,” he writes. “All he has to do is not appeal, and DADT is over.”

The full text of Judge Phillips’ order is below the jump: 

 TO ALL PARTIES AND THEIR ATTORNEYS OF RECORD: 

This action was tried by Judge Virginia A. Phillips without a jury on July 13-16 and 20-23, 2010.  The Court filed a Memorandum Opinion on September 9, 2010 (Doc. 232), and an Amended & Final Memorandum Opinion, and Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, on October 8, 2010. For all the reasons set forth therein, the Court: 

(1) DECLARES that the act known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” 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.

(2) PERMANENTLY ENJOINS Defendants United States of America and the Secretary of Defense, their agents, servants, officers, employees, and attorneys, and all persons acting in participation or concert with them or under their direction or command, from enforcing or applying the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Act and implementing regulations, against any person under their jurisdiction or command; 

(3) ORDERS Defendants United States of America and the Secretary of Defense immediately to suspend and discontinue any investigation, or discharge, separation, or other proceeding, that may have been commenced under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Act, or pursuant to 10 U.S.C. § 654 or its implementing regulations, on or prior to the date of this Judgment. 

(4) GRANTS Plaintiff Log Cabin Republicans’ request to apply for attorneys’ fees pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412; and

(5) GRANTS Plaintiff Log Cabin Republicans’ request to file a motion for costs of suit, to the extent allowed by law.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate