'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Extended Indefinitely By Federal Appeals Court

[cal04]

Source: Huffington Post

A federal appeals court on Monday indefinitely extended its freeze on a judge's order halting enforcement of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the U.S. government's request for a stay while it challenges the trial court's ruling that the ban on openly gay service members is unconstitutional.

The same panel, composed of two judges appointed by President Ronald Reagan and one appointed by President Bill Clinton, on Oct. 20 imposed a temporary hold keeping "don't ask, don't tell" in place.

In an eight-page order, the judges said they were persuaded by the Department of Justice's argument that U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Phillips' worldwide injunction against the 1993 policy "will seriously disrupt ongoing and determined efforts by the Administration to devise an orderly change of policy."

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/01/dont-ask-dont-tell-extended-appeals_n_777349.html

[Pab Sungenis]

1. Thank you, Mr. President

:puke:

[saigon68]

30. More of that Change "We can Believe In"

Lovely--- good to see the religious right in action <sarcasm>

[lisa58]

2. oh, hell

[24601]

3. The DoD procedures in place will still bring discharges effectively

to a halt.

The President could have done this 20 Jan 2009 by requiring all proposed discharges be referred to him for final disposition.

[No Elephants]

37. Or by executive order. Or by leaning on Congress. Or so many ways.

[24601]

45. I'll respectfully disagree that an Executive Order can take precedence

over law. But he could have procedurally/administratively put everything on hold while, as you say, "leaning on Congress" more effectively to change the law.

I'll judge that the President doesn't judge DADT as unconstitutional, therefore the DOJ efforts to defend it vigorously. Otherwise imaging a future president getting a District Court ruling that Health Care has a constitutional flaw, and refusing to defend it in the courts.

[Tx4obama]

4. No one will be discharged. Gates issued a memo a week or so ago...

restricting the authorization of discharges to 5 people and those folks are Obama appointees.
So, no matter what happens in the Court - DADT is dead.

[NorthCarolina]

5. DADT is dead?

Lt. Dan Choi for one will be glad to hear this. I'm sure his re-enlistment is going swimmingly.

[EFerrari]

7. Nope. Discharges may be slowed down but DADT is certainly not dead.

Ask any gay service member subject to harassment. It's plenty alive for them.

[No Elephants]

38. As long as DADTand DOMA are on the books, they say, "Your government believes gays are less than

other humans."

You know when lynchings in the US finally ended? After passage of the Civil Rights Act if 1964. Yes, they had slowed before that, but were still occurring until government finally ended Jim Crow laws.

[Jumping John]

6. Freedom to be truthful - not in Obama's Military - got that private Choi!!!

[Tesha]

8. Well done, Obama! very well played! (NT)

[laconicsax]

9. ...

:banghead:

[Newsjock]

10. Way to motivate your gay voters on election eve, Mr. President

Sometimes I swear the Democrats would be much happier out of power. They wouldn't be expected to actually do anything.

[Tx4obama]

12. So you're blaming Obama for when/what the JUDGES did?

Obama is not a GOD, he has no power over the court's docket.

p.s. Has anyone heard yet what the make up of the three federal judges is?
Three republican judges? Sounds like what GOP'ers would do - since they released the order the night before the election ;(

[Newsjock]

13. Why yes, I am, in fact

Because Mr. Obama could have stopped this before it got this far. And claims to the contrary are bogus.

[riderinthestorm]

14. Obama didn't have to appeal the stay. At all.

The make up of the court is in the OP - 2 appointed by Reagan and one appointed by Clinton. But the timing of the release is moot since the bigger point is that Obama didn't need to do this at all.

He could have continued the appeal (if indeed he even needed to go that route, a hotly debated subject) without trying to stay the injunction.

This is ALL at his feet.

[obxhead]

17. First to reply that you don't understand 3 dimensional chess.

Of course that's not what this is.

[Occulus]

18. If I spun as fast as you, I would get sick.

You must have a strong stomach.

For this sort of thing.

[No Elephants]

32. No, for what he and his D of J have been doing.

[MisterP]

19. I recall that the Congressional leadership was relieved when Brown won in Kennedy's seat

because then they didn't have as-high expectations

that, and their 80%-similar policies...

[No Elephants]

41. Pelosi, Reid and other Congressional leaders said they were relieved?

I don't recall that.


I do, however, recall Democrats leaving a candidate who had never run for national office on her own until about 36 hours before voting started. No money, no consultants, no campaigners, no robo calls even. Nade, zip, until it was too late to do much of anything.

With hcr pending, Coakley was failing on her own as polls plummeted. DNC explained "She said she was okay." Huh? She had never run for anything grander than state AG and even I, who has never run for anything, knew she had been messing up left and right (No pun intended.) Aiy yiy yiy.

[Baclava]

48. they got your memo n/t

[Bette Noir]

11. Damn.

[riderinthestorm]

15. A grievous set back. The GLBT community has every right to be fuming over this. nt

[BlueIris]

25. The rest of us *should* be fuming, too. Or were you under the impression

that injustice is acceptable, simply because it "only" affects the GLBT community.

[riderinthestorm]

28. I'm not gay so I never dare to presume to speak for that segment of the population

I'm angry. I've said as much over my entire DU history. It's no secret how I feel about it but I don't have the same stake in it as others.

The injustice IS unacceptable. I've been a forceful and vehement critic of DADT, and especially this Admin's role in it all

[Zhade]

46. This queer thanks you for being a decent person.

: )

[democrank]

16. More change I can believe in.

[struggle4progress]

20. If the Administration hadn't obtained the stay, the rightwingers would have

been in Court in a different federal district, suing the Administration for enforcement of the law, and the whole mess would rumble inexorably towards SCOTUS, which now seems about 50% stark-raving-lunatics

[riderinthestorm]

23. The DOJ has appealed this, which means it IS going to the Supremes.

And you're right, I don't trust the Roberts court to find DADT unconstitutional. This is precisely why so many on DU are up in arms.

It stinks all around. Obama is gambling on this SCOTUS finding DADT unconstitutional, with a fallback on Congress to appeal DADT (the same Congress that has already shot it down the once already). Gambling with people's civil rights - it's astonishing that our country's first black president is in this position.

[No Elephants]

33. Last place you'd want this to go, even if Tony had not already let us know his views.

[sakabatou]

21. *facepalm*

[sam sarrha]

22. one more time.. the ruling has to stay till the Congress changes the bill..procedure trumps mob rule

[ruggerson]

29. one more time: procedure was followed when the Fed Dist Court declared the law UNCONSTITUTIONAL

[sam sarrha]

31. the courts dont legislate.. there is a law that needs to be changed.. it takes time

[No Elephants]

36. LOL, yes, they do--and are supposed to. Google "common law legal system."

In a common law system, judge made law is as valid--and perhaps more usual--than legislatively adopted law.

Until this issue, the only ones I'd seen or heard claiming our courts have no business "legislating" from the bench were uninformed and/or cynical RWers--and never more loudy and persistently than when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that Massachusetts's marriage laws violated the Massachusetts state Constitution.

Now, Democrats attempting to defend the Obama Admin on this have been making the same erroneous claim. It's embarrassing.

As far as federal courts declaring federal (and state) laws unconstitutional, if you're unaware of that, I despair. It's been happening for about 3 centuries, under a combination of how common law Courts had always functioned, plus a constitutional grant of power to federa courts to decide cases involving the U.S. constitution.

In all that time no one--no President, no Congress, no citizen, no one, has challenged the power legally or even tried to amend the constitution to overrule the opinion of Justice Marshall (John, not Thurgood) on the subject, so its still part of the supreme law of the land.

[Pab Sungenis]

39. The law doesn't need to be changed.

The law is unconstitutional, thus under the Constitution and the legal system it created it was never a viable law to begin with.

[No Elephants]

42. The law would remain unconstitutional, if the D of J were not appealing, but it is.

I very much doubt the Supreme Court will invalidate. Damn the appeal!

[activa8tr]

49. I agree with your point. This was a foolish move .... insulting to servicemen and women

who are gay or lesbian. Why do this?

It would be like ..... ANDREW JOHNSON, (Lincoln's successor as Pres) appealing the Emancipation Proclamation to the courts.
Shows really bad taste, and truthfully, is the absolute most destructive thing the Obama folks have done to the American people since being elected. That and continuing wars..of course.

[No Elephants]

34. LOL. Nope. Keep singing that tune, though.

[QC]

24. I FEEL SO HOPEFUL!1!!!11!!!

[BlueIris]

26. Ugly.

Obama's lack of action to end this disgusting oppression is vile.

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

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

[xchrom]

35. sigh. nt

[Le Taz Hot]

40. Oh, good.

Now the President can sleep soundly. :mad: :puke:

[QC]

43. He's not a king with a magic wand! n/t

:cry:

[Ruby the Liberal]

44. So, is Dan Choi about to be discharged again?

What a mess.

[defendandprotect]

47. Good news in that -- !!