09/10/2010 // WPB, FL, USA // Personal Injury Lawyers News // Nicole Howley
Los Angeles, CA—A federal judge in California took a stand against the military’s seemingly “anti-gay policies” by ruling the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy unconstitutional. US District Court Judge Virginia A. Phillips handed down the decision Thursday night, September 9, 2010, reports ABC News.
The case was brought by the Log Cabin Republicans, a political organization advocating equal rights for gays and lesbians, who oppose the military’s policy, which prohibits openly gay service members from serving in the military.
US District Court Judge Virginia A. Phillips wrote, “Defendants faced the burden at trials of showing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Act was necessary to significantly further the Government’s important interests in military readiness and unit cohesion… Defendants failed to meet that burden.”
This is the first time that a federal judge had found the law unconstitutional on the grounds of due process and first amendment.
Judge Phillips also wrote, “The Don’t Ask Don’t Tell infringes the fundamental right of United States service members in many ways…The Act denies homosexuals serving in the Armed Forces the right to enjoy “intimate conduct” in their personal relationships. …to speak about their loved ones while serving their country in uniform…it discharges them for including information in a personal communication from which an unauthorized reader might discern their homosexuality.”
The Department of Justice are still reviewing the decision. The government had the right to appeal the ruling.
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