The war to end Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell continues. The Obama Department of Justice (DOJ) Thursday filed an emergency motion to halt the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling last week that prohibited the government and the military from enforcing the ban on open service by gay and lesbians in the military, better known as Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT).
READ: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Barred By Court Again, Just In Time For Repeal
“This latest maneuver by the President continues a pattern of doublespeak that all Americans should find troubling,” reads a statement from the Log Cabin Republicans (LCR), the group which won a worldwide injunction in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States, effectively halting Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
READ: DADT: Read Ninth Circuit Court’s Ruling Barring Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
“All this does is further confuse the situation for our men and women in uniform,†said R. Clarke Cooper, Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director, combat veteran and captain in the United States Army Reserve. “Let me be clear – the president is asking the court for the power to continue threatening servicemembers with investigation and discharge, and the right to turn away qualified Americans from military service for no reason other than their sexual orientation. Even if the administration never uses that power, it is still wrong, and the Ninth Circuit was clear that there is no justification for continuing the violation of servicemembers’ constitutional rights. ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ is an offense to American values that should have been gone long ago. It is shameful that a president who has taken credit for opposing the policy is taking extreme measures to keep it on life support.â€
The LCR statement added, “The motion that the government filed today has no other purpose than to request – on an emergency basis – that the military be permitted to investigate and discharge servicemembers, and block new enlistments, based solely on those individuals’ sexuality,†said Dan Woods, partner of White & Case and lead attorney in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States. “The government’s request is inexplicable on any other basis.”
Last week’s Ninth Circuit decision reaffirmed the October 12, 2010 ruling by Judge Virginia Phillips that found DADT to be unconstitutional. Judge Phillips at that time had ordered the Department of Defense to “immediately to suspend and discontinue any investigation, or discharge, separation, or other proceeding†related to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, but then eight days later the Ninth Circuit issued a “temporary†stay, which was removed last week. The government today asked, essentially, for last week’s ruling to be placed on hold.
DADT opponents and gay rights groups will have a field day with this latest move by the DOJ, and see it as a betrayal of the Obama administration’s claim it is trying to get DADT repealed, especially since the DOJ neither explained nor announced its intentions or motivations.