Lesbian sgt. discharged after police tell military

[NoGOPZone]

Source: Associated Press via Yahoo! News

Jene Newsome played by the rules as an Air Force sergeant: She never told anyone in the military she was a lesbian. The 28-year-old's honorable discharge under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy came only after police officers in Rapid City, S.D., saw an Iowa marriage certificate in her home and told the nearby Ellsworth Air Force Base.

Newsome and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint against the western South Dakota police department, claiming the officers violated her privacy when they informed the military about her sexual orientation. The case also highlights concerns over the ability of third parties to "out" service members, especially as the Pentagon has started reviewing the 1993 "don't ask, don't tell" law.

"I played by 'don't ask, don't tell,'" Newsome told The Associated Press by telephone.

"I just don't agree with what the Rapid City police department did. ... They violated a lot of internal policies on their end, and I feel like my privacy was violated."



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100313/ap_on_re_us/us_lesbian_sergeant_discharged

[saracat]

1. But, but, but, I thought we were supposed to have stopped this kind of thing!

:sarcasm:

[Tesha]

9. An executive order could have stopped it. But instead, we're "studying it". (NT)

[change_notfinetuning]

14. He's the "speech" president, not the "order" president. And your point is? n/t

[Tesha]

20. Just that. (NT)

[Javaman]

46. ....

first we had a prez that was "all hat and no cattle", now we have a prez that is "all talk and no action".

:hide:

[24601]

37. The President can put all these on hold with one order, to the

Secretary of Defense, exercising original jurisdiction in all such discharges. No commander wants the hassel of preparing everything to go before the President. Then there is time to change the law.

[MrScorpio]

2. I hope that she gets a lawyer and sues the fuck out of the RCPD

I wonder that they were doing in her house anyway

[rcrush]

4. Agreed

Clean that police station out! They can't be doing much good for the community anyways. Hit cops where it hurts. Their budget!

[Thothmes]

49. It will be the citizens that pick up the tab.

[Gormy Cuss]

6. +1

I also hope that DADT is gone sooner rather than later. It's bullshit to contend that not talking about it is somehow beneficial to the military.

[rocktivity]

8. Unless her sexual orientation had relevance to something being investigated

by either the local or military police, she's got an open-and-shut case.

And any DATD reform MUST close that third-party loophole.

:headbang:
rocktivity

[Ex Lurker]

19. she still has an issue with stonewalling the cops about her spouse

and the fact that the spouse is apparently a fugitive. That's okay for a civilian, but definitely not okay for someone in the military, if they value their career. It has implications for things like security clearances, etc. I got jumped below for pointing this out, but she is probably not the best person to be front and center on the DADT issue.

[Flaneur]

41. No one is required to cooperate with police investigations.

Her spouse is not a fugitive, but is out on bail.

The Rapid City police went above and beyond the call of duty to fuck this woman over. They deserve every penny it costs them.

[Hobarticus]

45. Maybe she should've been more cooperative...

Still, her marriage had NOTHING to do with the investigation.

If this had been a hetero couple, what business would they have calling her employer to discuss her marriage? Does that really sound like a reasonable use of power, no matter what the circumstances?

If you got pulled over for a traffic violation and gave the officer a little attitude, should they be able to call your boss and tell them about it?

The PD effed her over out of spite and bigotry. You can't excuse that away.

[tomm2thumbs]

25. +1 yep, the LIVING fuck!

talk about going over the line

[muffin1]

3. Unfucking believable.

I bet the 'fierce advocate' will be all over this. Surely this will rate a beer summit.

:evilfrown:

[bertman]

23. "Unfucking believable. I bet the 'fierce advocate' will be all over this. Surely this

will rate a beer summit."

Beautiful, muffin1. Perfect.

[The Straight Story]

5. Fuck bush and the repubs....errrr (nt)

[muffin1]

7. I hate bush as much as the next person,

but why 'fuck bush' in this particular case?

[saracat]

10. The poster is being facetious and making an comparison with days gone by.

As in, what has changed?

[muffin1]

11. Aahhh...

I have gotten used to Obama getting a pass for everything around here - I guess I just assumed it was the status quo again. :D

[boppers]

29. Obama getting a pass? On DU?

Some teachers get fired in Rhode Island: Obama's fault
Unemployment high: Obama's fault
DADT law still enforced: Obama's fault

I dunno if you have a huge ignore list, or what, but Obama get's blamed for TARP, NAFTA, the CIA.... darned near everything around here.

[muffin1]

36. I have no one on ignore.

I do not blame Obama for the economy, yet. He certainly walked into a shit hole, and I'm willing to give him more time.

My big issues are DADT - from what I understand, he COULD have stopped the discharges right away.
And his stance on same-sex marriage is similar to what one would expect from a republican. I find it hard to believe that someone as educated as Obama would refer to a sky wizard as the reason for his discriminatory beliefs. He held a beer summit when Henry Gates was discriminated against - and don't get me wrong, I am all for smacking down discrimination. But where the hell is this 'fierce advocacy' for the gay community (who came out in DROVES for him in 2008)? Yeah, he gave a nice speech at the Human Rights Campaign. I found the timing to be suspect, at best - the day before the March on Washington...seems he was trying to take the sting out of the protest...


The other thing is health care. Single payer was 'taken off the table' from the very beginning. Starting with the public option in the negotiations left us nowhere else to go but where we are now. A stupid, POS bill that is nothing more than a windfall to the insurance companies.

I just don't see 'campaign Obama' anywhere. The fire is just not there anymore. I wish like hell he would stop trying bipartisanship. They don't like him now, and they will NEVER like him or his ideas. It's time to start taking care of the people who put him in office. WE WON. We get to lead this time. If the repubs win next time (god forbid), then it will be THEIR turn. Do you really think they will give a shit what we want?

[TeddCatt]

51. Yeah, what you said.

Yeah,

You're right. This is Bush's fault.

If George W. Bush wasn't who he is, this would never have happened.

Think about it. First of all he's white! He's rich (from Big Oil money that destroys the environment) , a Republican (hatemongers one and all), a Christian (and he's always talking about it), served in the U.S. military, is faithful to his wife (he's no bill clinton, that's for sure)loves America and his family.

Who wouldn't hate him?

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Skeeve]

13. You just hurt my brain

Could you say all that again a little more coherently?

It was very difficult to understand what exactly you're talking about.

I did see genital politics, which intrigues me.

[muffin1]

16. Excuse me, but

:wtf:

[Ex Lurker]

15. sounds like dirty pool, but she really fucked up by not cooperating

with the investigation. This assured that the cops would take it up with her chain of command, and it's a REALLY bad idea for your personal issues or those of your SO, to pop up on their radar screen. Especially when it involves alleged criminal activity. The DADT angle complicates things, but this was going to end badly for her pretty much no matter what.

[readmoreoften]

17. Nice apologism for police coercion. Nice changing of the subject from DADT.

Because we should all have to watch our backs against a vindictive and petty police force--especially active duty troops. :eyes:

[Ex Lurker]

18. I believe I stipulated it was dirty pool by the PD

but she is not without fault here.

[David Zephyr]

27. No, you said that she got what she deserved in the end.

Noted.

[Ex Lurker]

28. I said no such thing, but thanks for playing n/t

[David Zephyr]

31. Your words.

"The DADT angle complicates things, but this was going to end badly for her pretty much no matter what."

First of all, her wife (not her) is INNOCENT until proven guilty.

What was done was a travesty of justice and vicious.

Your gratuitous comment says you know how "this was going to end" before her partner ever faced a jury.

It's clear what you were saying.

[Ex Lurker]

33. yes, the fact that

she was in trouble with her chain of command for not cooperating with a civilian police investigation. She is behind the eight ball for that, DADT notwithstanding. Using her as a poster child for the inequities of DADT is extremely problematic because of this. You clearly aren't listening to what I'm saying, but it is what it is.

[David Zephyr]

43. No one in this thread remotely suggested making her "a poster child".

By creating your own straw arguments, you reveal how busted you are with your self-revealing comments about my community.

You jumped into this with zero compassion saying she got what she deserved and now you are trying to wiggle your way out of it.

It's actually amusing to me.

Do you need a new shovel to keep digging the hole you dug for yourself yet? Let me know.

[Starry Messenger]

30. I missed the part where cops are given free license to fuck with your career.

Is there an LEO/US military pact that the rest of us weren't aware of? Or could this be the good old boys network....

[Ex Lurker]

35. I don't know about any pact, but if you are in the military and refuse to cooperate with

an investigation by civilian law enforcement, your chain of command will be notified, and there will be consequences.

[Starry Messenger]

38. The article says that the LEO spotted the marriage license on her desk

Was there a warrant for searching the desk for personal information? Are the usual consequences of any alleged "non-cooperation" of an investigation or you *partner* immediate discharge?

[Ex Lurker]

42. 1. probably not, and that claim by the police sound extremely fishy. 2. no.

Like I said before, it's dirty pool by the police.

[DallasNE]

21. I Would Venture That 3rd Parties

Are responsible for a very large number of outings of service members with non-service former partners seeking revenge at the top of the list. A simple accusation would trigger a search warrant and the military would inspect the soldiers residence looking for sex items associated with a gay life style. Open and shut case. That is how it was defined to me by a former military lawyer and judge.

[MadMaddie]

22. The police had a warrent to pick up the partner of the military

person, not to validate if they were married.

The police overstepped their bounds in this case and I hope they get taken to the bank. They have ruined a womans long time career because of pettiness.

I wonder if this were a hetereosexual married couple would they have done the same? Would they go to a spouses military employer?

Did she know where the woman was? Is it possible she didn't know where she was at the time? 3rd party outing is unfair and uncivilized.

[Ex Lurker]

26. if she wasn't cooperating with the investigation, yes, yes they would

and she would be in trouble with her chain of command for it. The military plays by a different set of rules, and you give up some of your civilian rights when you take the oath.

[David Zephyr]

32. IF. Now you've reduced your earlier assertion to "if". That's an improvement.

And you don't know IF she was refusing or not. Her partner is innocent until proven guilty and you certainly don't know. Your use of "if" now reveals that.

If. You sure took a side quickly, didn't you?

Noted.

[Ex Lurker]

34. it was a rhetorical "if." but whatever. your schtick has grown tiresome n/t

[David Zephyr]

50. Kicking up this thread.

More people should read this thread.

[MadMaddie]

39. I was in the military so I do know that the rules are different

however; it wasn't another military person outing her (not that that is civilized either) but it's a civilian that did it.

And again is it possible she didn't know where the spouse was? If not how is that not cooperating?

[atreides1]

47. She was at work, maybe they wouldn't release her

"Newsome was at work at the base at the time and refused to immediately come home and assist the officers in finding her partner.."

It could be that she wasn't able to get off from duty at the time, and seeing as this wasn't a life or death situation, maybe her chain of command would release her.

I don't read anywhere that the police contacted her chain of command, at least not until they saw the marriage license.

And yes I know that the rules are different in the military, I spent 13 years on active duty, then married a woman who retired from the USAF after 20+ years of active service.

Being a first line supervisor in the US Army, I knew that civilian law enforcement would contact the MP's who would then contact the soldier's unit if they wanted to ask the soldier any questions. The marital status of my troops who were contacted by civilian law enforcement never played a part.

[defendandprotect]

24. Right wing insanity to the very last moment . . .!!! And 17 years or more of DADT!!!

Come on, Obama!! Do it!!

[marshall]

40. They need a "Don't Listen" clause on DADT

DADT covers the military. The police are the ones who violated DADT by "telling" the Air Force.

I look on it the same way illegally obtained evidence is barred from use in the courts. Many "guilty" defendants have gone free because the evidence against them is inadmissable because it was not obtained legally. In the same way, the Air Force has information about Newsome that is true, but it was obtained through a violation of DADT. But since the police (or anybody else with an axe to grind against Newsome) aren't covered, I think they need a "Don't Listen" clause that would further protect folks like Newsome who are abiding by the script of the law.

[Odin2005]

44. Fucking pigs.

[Blue_Tires]

48. that was a dick move on the cops' part...

[Bo]

52. SUE THE DUMB ASS RED NECKS MORANS !

When will this country grow up?

...Morans DU spelling