Today(July 6th, 2011) a panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit re-instituted an injunction barring the military from enforcing the ban on openly lesbian, gay and bisexual service members. The court concluded that, with “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal being implemented and certification of the new policy forthcoming, the government would not be burdened by ceasing enforcement at this time. The order was issued in the appeal of Log Cabin Republicans v. Panetta (formerly Gates), a case challenging the constitutionality of the DADT law. In September 2010, a federal district judge ruled that the law is unconstitutional and the Obama administration appealed that decision. While the Ninth Circuit must still rule on the constitutionality of the law, until it does so, the military will now be enjoined from enforcing DADT. Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, released the following statement: “Today’s decision is a harbinger that ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ is on its way out. With troops trained on the new policy and senior military leaders having said the process is working without significant disruption, DADT is on its last legs. The time for certification is now in order to clearly and plainly wipe this damaging law off the books once and for all.”
