Injunction sought to ban defense agencies from enforcing 'don't ask, don't tell' policy

[cal04]

Source: LA Times

A week after a federal judge in Riverside declared the U.S. government’s ban on gays serving openly in the military unconstitutional, attorneys for the Republican organization that filed the lawsuit asked the court to permanently and immediately ban defense agencies from enforcing the "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy.

The U.S. Department of Justice has seven days to respond to the proposed injunction. Agency officials could not be reached for comment Thursday.

On Sept. 9, U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips ruled that the 17-year-old “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy violated the 1st Amendment and due process rights of gay and lesbian service members. The case was filed in 2004 by the Log Cabin Republicans, the GOP’s largest gay political organization.

(snip)
On Wednesday, U.S. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Mark Udall (D-Colo.) wrote a letter to U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder urging him not to appeal the decision. They noted that President Obama, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, all have called for the law to be repealed.



Read more: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/09/ban-on-gays-in-military-dont-ask-dont-tell-federal-ruling-.html

[No Elephants]

1. Hoping for victory. Equal human rights for all humans--the real "prime directive."