Appeal the Repeal!

On October 12, U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Phillips issued a legal injunction which effectively put a hold on all prior military discharges made as a result of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. If left unchallenged by a likely Department of Justice appeal, Judge Phillips would be responsible for bringing an end to the 17 year old ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the United States Armed Forces.

In her ruling of the court case Log Cabin Republicans v. United States of America, Judge Phillips cited the First Amendment guarantee to freedom of speech and wrote that the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy “infringes the fundamental rights of United States service members and prospective service members.”

Since its conception, the controversial policy has cost the United States military some 14,000 skilled personnel, a heavy price for a country currently involved in two wars. It is impossible to know for sure how many potential servicemen and women were barred from enlisting and how many more military personnel it would have discharged had it remained in force.

The repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is a welcome victory for America’s all-volunteer military, providing a much needed boost to its stretched-thin ranks. To the overwhelming majority of the population—67% according to this source—who support the repeal of the policy and the special interests who fought against this ban, this is a welcome victory for them too. Their interests were heard and their ends were finally met.

Yet, there are those whose interests were neither met nor heard. Though her ruling may be a landmark decision, Judge Phillips is guilty of overt judge activism. The United States is a country where laws are made by elected legislators who represent various viewpoints, not decreed from the benches of courtrooms.

The repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell should be a product of congressional debate, where all interests are heard and considered. Was the public voice of dissent considered when Judge Phillips made a decision that would greatly affect two executive federal departments? The only way this moratorium on the ban can have a lasting legitimacy in the United States is by a timely, legal appeal by the Department of Justice that is on a path pursuant of congressional intervention.

Update to the current situation HERE!