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Post by cestlefun17 on Jul 6, 2011 16:31:54 GMT -5
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has lifted its stay in the matter of Log Cabin Republicans v. United States of America.
Effective immediately, the United States may not enforce "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" meaning that for the second time in United States history, openly gay people may serve in the military.
Last fall there was a window of a few days after the original District Court ruling when a stay was not in place. This window may close if the U.S. appeals the decision to lift the stay or if a higher court overturns the original ruling.
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Post by Oriet on Jul 6, 2011 16:41:46 GMT -5
Sounds awesome. Could you maybe provide a link to the story?
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Post by Jodie on Jul 6, 2011 18:25:57 GMT -5
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Post by Shano on Jul 6, 2011 18:32:34 GMT -5
How wonderful it is that your collegues will immediately forget you coming out the moment the stay is lifted or the ruling overturned...
In other words the decision mean practially nothing.
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Post by cestlefun17 on Jul 6, 2011 20:37:50 GMT -5
I don't want to jinx it, but as certification of repeal will supposedly happen in a "matter of weeks," it's looking more and more likely that the policy will never go back into effect. This will hopefully speed up the process.
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Post by Thejebusfire on Jul 6, 2011 22:56:18 GMT -5
I bet RR is up in arms about this! But this is awesome!  |
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Post by sylvana on Jul 7, 2011 1:35:35 GMT -5
Last fall there was a window of a few days after the original District Court ruling when a stay was not in place. This window may close if the U.S. appeals the decision to lift the stay or if a higher court overturns the original ruling. I am horribly confused by what this paragraph means. I just want to be sure what is happening. Last I heard dont ask dont tell was repealed and gays could openly serve in the military. I figured the bigots would get up in arms about it and appeal the verdict, but I dont quite understand what you actually mean when you say that "The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has lifted its stay in the matter of Log Cabin Republicans v. United States of America." American law can be very confusing. Have they rejected the appeal against dont ask dont tell? |
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Post by MaybeNever on Jul 7, 2011 1:46:40 GMT -5
DADT was repealed by court order; then that order was appealed and so the court order was frozen (i.e. DADT remained in force) until the situation could be reviewed. The appellate court has basically reviewed the appeal and said that the first order, repealing DADT, was valid, so DADT is no longer in force. It sounds like the results of this appeal could also be appealed, however, which would once again put DADT in effect. I think the next step is the Supreme Court, though, and that's where it would stop - there aren't any appeals beyond that.
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Post by cestlefun17 on Jul 7, 2011 7:41:58 GMT -5
I apologize for being confusing. To explain briefly, there are three tiers in our federal judiciary: District Court (each state has at least one), Circuit Court of Appeals (each "circuit" covers several states, there are about 13 of them), and the Supreme Court (covers the entire country). Last September, the District Court for the Central District of California ruled in the lawsuit Log Cabin Republicans v. United States of America that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" violated servicemembers' First and Fifth Amendment rights to free speech and due process of law. On October 12, 2010, the judge issued a worldwide injunction barring the U.S. from enforcing the policy and she refused to grant a stay. For a few days, the U.S. could not enforce the policy. But the U.S. asked the 9th Circuit Court to grant a stay and they did. The 9th Circuit has now lifted this stay, putting the original District Court order back into effect. The stay could still be put back into effect if the U.S. asks for a stay from a higher court (the Supreme Court). Also, the 9th Circuit could still rule that the District Court was wrong and that DADT is constitutional (oral arguments are scheduled for the end of August). On the legislative side, Congress did repeal DADT last December, but repeal does not go into effect until the President, Secretary of Defense, and Chairman of the Join Chiefs of Staff all certify that the military is ready to handle the policy change. Then there is a 60-day waiting period. If you are interested in this topic, I highly recommend reading the ruling in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States of America. It is short on legalese and is incredibly powerful. It describes succinctly just how disgusting this policy is. (Skip the section on Standing). www.cacd.uscourts.gov/Cacd/RecentPubOp.nsf/bb61c530eab0911c882567cf005ac6f9/4f03e468a737002e8825779a00040406/$FILE/2CV04-8425-VAP.pdf |
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