The U.S. Supreme Court has just ruled that it will leave in place the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law, while a lower court reviews a ruling that found the law to be unconstitutional. The Log Cabin Republicans, petitioners in the six-year old case, had appealed to the high court to allow the lower court’s ruling to stay in place while the case is being reviewed. The Obama Department of Justice asked the court to keep the ban on openly-gay servicemembers in place.
SCOTUSblog reports, “Justice Kennedy referred the issue to the full Court. Justice Elena Kagan took no part in the order,” adding,
“Noting that the Pentagon on its own has stopped discharging gay and lesbian members of the services, a gay rights group on Friday told the Supreme Court that the military will suffer no harm if the Justices now bar discharges under the 1993 “don’t ask/don’t tell†policy. In a final brief, the Log Cabin Republicans also noted a spate of news reports indicating that repeal of the gay ban by Congress is less and less likely, leaving only the courts to act on what a federal judge has decided is an unconstitutional policy.
“Justice Anthony M. Kennedy is considering, and could refer to the full Court, an application to put into full effect U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips’ ruling that the 1993 law is unconstitutional in all of its aspects, and the judge’s worldwide injunction that would bar its continued enforcement. With the filing of the Log Cabin Republicans’ reply brief, the application (10A465) is now ready for the Court to act, and an order could come at any time.
“If the Justices leave intact a Ninth Circuit Court stay of Judge Phillips’ order, the policy will remain in effect while its validity is tested in the Ninth Circuit and, perhaps, ultimately before the Justices. If the Justices, however, lift that stay, at least part of the gay ban would be interrupted for the time being.”