Justice Dept Expected to Appeal ''Dont Ask, Don't Tell" Injunction

The Department of Justice plans to appeal U. S. District Judge Virginia Phillips' worldwide injunction barring enforcement of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", reports CNN.

"While the government has up to 60 days to file an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court in San Francisco, California, officials familiar with the case said that could happen in the next day or two. A Justice Department spokesman declined comment. The sources familiar with the government's plans expect a motion for an emergency stay to halt the injunction to be filed first with Philips as a matter of procedure. If she rejects it, as expected, the request for an emergency stay would accompany the formal appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court."

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Robert Gates warns of "enormous consequences" if the ruling in Log Cabin Republicans v the United States of America is allowed to stand.

"A day after a judge in California ordered the Pentagon to cease enforcement of its policy barring gays from openly serving in the military, Gates told reporters that the question of whether to repeal the law should be decided by Congress, and done only after the Pentagon completes its study on the issue. 'I feel strongly this is an action that needs to be taken by the Congress and that it is an action that requires careful preparation, and a lot of training,' said Gates. 'It has enormous consequences for our troops.' The defense secretary said that besides the changes in training, regulations will need revisions and changes may be necessary to benefits and Defense Department buildings."

At the beinning of the summer, Gates also warned Congress of ''damaging'' consequences if they attempted to repeal the ban before the Pentagon completed its "study." This is becoming a recurring theme with the Administration ...

And perhaps not coincidentally, the Pentagon is now leaking the supposed results of surveys that have been conducted in recent months. The LA Times reports the "task force found deep resistance to the idea of repealing the law in some elements of the armed services."

Comments

[Aamir Swag]

Can someone please educate me...Were the armed forces allowed time to take a survey when they started allowing African Americans to serve or when they desegregated the military? Does Gates not under stand the simple principles of the checks and balances system set up by our writers of the Constitution?
And what changes need to be made to the Defense Dept buildings?
Gates is silly. This whole situation is ridiculous.

[FREELEO]

Truman sent a message to Congress to "have the remaining instances of discrimination of the armed services eliminated as rapidly as possible" in February of 1948. The process was started, but it took 15 years for the military to fully comply.

I was curious about this also so I looked it up awhile ago. People should be made aware that you can't rush the military or blame Obama for this mess.