Supreme Court Upholds 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' For Now
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The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the U.S. military to continue enforcing its "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy for the time being, refusing a request by gay rights advocates to temporarily suspend the policy.
The ruling echoes the decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which said Nov. 1 that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" should remain in effect until the government's appeal of a lower court decision calling the policy unconsitutional is completed.
The Supreme Court offered no comment with its decision on Friday.
The Pentagon is expected to issue a report Dec. 1 that says the military can end the policy, which prohibits gays and lesbians from openly serving in the military, with little risk to the current war effort.
Both the Ninth Circuit and Supreme Court decisions extend the appellate court's Oct. 20 emergency stay, which was issued after a lower court judge ruled "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" should not remain in effect during the appeal process.
Judge Virginia Philips ruled in September that the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy was unconstituional, which caused the ban on gays to not be enforced for eight days. The U.S. government has appealed her ruling. The Obama administration has said its not prudent to suspend the policy until the Pentagon report is officially released and reviewed by Congress. Ultimately, President Barack Obama has said that he supports repealing the policy.
The 19,000 gay rights advocates behind the original lawsuit now have no recourse to immediately allow gays to openly serve in the military. They must wait for either the appellate decision about Phillips' ruling or the Obama administration to drop its appeal.
A third way to lift the ban could arise because the length of the appeals process will likely give the lame-duck Congress enough time to simply demand the military to do away with the policy, making the lawsuit moot.
The House voted to repal "don't ask, don't tell" in January, but a Republican-led filibuster blocked the Senate version from passing. Several senators say the Dec. 1 report could cause them to restart the battle. Obama has vowed to persuade them to pass the bill this time around.
Justice Elena Kagan did not participate in making the Supreme Court decision because she was the Obama administration's chief lawyer early in the lawsuit by the Log Cabin Republicans. Obama administration lawyers asked the Supreme Court not to get involved yet with "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
Meanwhile, the ACLU is challenging the separation pay disparity for servicemembers who are discharged for being gay.
Reach executive producer Paresh Dave here. Follow him on Twitter: @peard33.
