Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Politics, Society

Obama Administration Secures Stay to Continue to Bar Gays and Lesbians From Military Service

The Obama Administration has succeeded in securing a stay of a federal court’s injunction on the don’t ask, don’t tell policy. The Ninth Circuit agreed to the demand of the Administration that it should be able to continue to bar openly gay military personnel and continue to discharge those who reveal that they are gay. The policy is now again active pending review of the lower court decision.

As noted earlier, even if the Administration felt obligated to use its discretion to appeal the ruling of U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips, it clearly could have allowed the injunction to stay in place pending review. Instead, it fought to be able to continue the discrimination against gay and lesbian citizens.

For a short time, military recruiters were ordered to accept openly gay and lesbian applicants. The Obama Administration quickly put an end to that brief period of non-discrimination.

Source: here

42 thoughts on “Obama Administration Secures Stay to Continue to Bar Gays and Lesbians From Military Service”

  2. Buckeye– Thanks for the info. My hope for the Westboro degenerates is that they receive a revelation from the voices in their empty heads to take up rattlesnake handling instead of harassment.

  3. It sounds like DOD is keeping records of sexual orientation in systems of records that aren’t disclosed in the Federal Register. That is a misdemeanor. See 5 USC 552a (i) (2)
    (i)
    (1) Criminal Penalties.— Any officer or employee of an agency, who by virtue of his employment or official position, has possession of, or access to, agency records which contain individually identifiable information the disclosure of which is prohibited by this section or by rules or regulations established thereunder, and who knowing that disclosure of the specific material is so prohibited, willfully discloses the material in any manner to any person or agency not entitled to receive it, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not more than $5,000.
    (2) Any officer or employee of any agency who willfully maintains a system of records without meeting the notice requirements of subsection (e)(4) of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not more than $5,000.
    (3) Any person who knowingly and willfully requests or obtains any record concerning an individual from an agency under false pretenses shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not more than $5,000.

    http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/5/usc_sec_05_00000552—a000-.html

  5. HenMan

    Apparently the family of SPC Hess has requested the Patriot Guard to help them.

    Here is an interesting account of another military funeral in WV that the PG attended.

    http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/2/4/1648/53199

    It seems when the PG showed up, the Westboro group left before the funeral. I haven’t heard of any law suit against the Patriot Guard yet. They have a website if anyone wishes to contribute.

  8. I don’t want to deny Westboro their rights, but I don’t want the family to suffer any more than they already are, either.

    It’s just one more of those damnable things life sometimes offers us, I guess.

  9. HenMan

    Well, publicly denouncing them just seems to egg them on, and ignoring them does no good either. It’s a problem.

    I agree that when they do their thing, we Christians must speak up – as all religions and all citizens should – but that’s after the damage is done. Pre-emption is asking for a law suit, I suppose.

    Because they are a cult and not a recognized church, it’s like trying to swat a flea without damaging the dog.

    Blouise

    We’ve lots of Scots in WV and several bagpipers. All of them ready and able. 🙂

  10. Buck and Hen,

    I know quite a few pipers who would be more than willing to volunteer their time. Positioned along a parameter far enough from the mourners to mute the sound but between the mourners and the protesters … facing the protesters … it might work

  11. Elaine M.,

    Thank you … I remember the award and the article and the revolution Thomas’s confirmation sparked … 🙂

  12. Buckeye– If the cemetary is privately owned, the owners might be able to at least keep them off their grounds. If it’s a national cemetary, probably not. Just speculating- I’m not a lawyer. Real Christians should be loudly and publicly denouncing these Westboro jerks in their local media wherever they appear and do whatever they can to support the grieving families who have lost so much.

  13. Thanks Hen Man

    I don’t know the family so don’t know what they have planned. I had the idea of large sheets fastened to poles that could be held in front of the Westboro signs. But I don’t know if they would sue because their free speech rights were breached.

    I think the sound could be drowned out by singing Amazing Grace or God Bless America or something if you had enough people. Or we could get the local bagpipe band to play. 🙂

  14. One more time.

    And if you hadn’t guessed yet, this goes to the issue of meeting the requirements of obtaining a stay…

    And in the absence of this stay, there is a likelihood of irreparable harm … how??

  15. Remember folks, opposing something means fighting to keep it in place.

    Unless of course you happen to have a dictionary with the O section intact.

  16. Off Topic…but very interesting–

    From Huffington Post (10/21/2010)
    Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalismat Brandeis University

    Angela Wright, “The Other Woman” of the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas Hearings (Flashback)
    By Florence George Graves
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/schuster-institute-for-investigative-journalism/news-flashback-anita-hill_b_771697.html

    Excerpt:
    Before Virginia Thomas, there was Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas — and Angela Wright (who?)

    Angela Wright heard Anita Hill and thought, “I believe her because he did it to me.” Her testimony might have changed history. She was subpoenaed. Why wasn’t she called?

    When Virginia Thomas left a message on Anita Hill’s voice mail on Columbus Day weekend October 9, 2010, she reopened what many remember as a “he said/she said” debate about sexual harassment. But it could have been “he said/they said.” On Columbus Day weekend in October 1991 — 19 years ago — another witness was waiting to testify. She could help corroborate Hill’s testimony in Clarence Thomas’s Senate Judiciary Committee’s Supreme Court nomination confirmation hearings. But Angela Wright was never called to testify.

    What would she have said — and why wasn’t she called to testify?

    In 1994, Florence Graves cleared up those mysteries in The Washington Post, revealing the intricate — and bipartisan — behind-the-scenes maneuvering by several Senate Judiciary Committee members to discourage the testimony of Angela Wright, a woman whose information could have helped corroborate Anita Hill’s allegations against Clarence Thomas. The article uncovered a surprising unwritten agreement among top Republicans and Democrats not to call Wright, apparently because they feared either that her testimony would create even greater political chaos or that it would doom Thomas’ nomination. It also uncovered evidence suggesting that Thomas lied to the Committee. Several senators — including then-Republican Senator Arlen Specter (Pa.), then-Senator Joe Biden (D-Del.), and other key players — told Graves they believed that if Wright had testified, Thomas would not have been confirmed.

    “The Other Woman,” Florence George Graves, The Washington Post Sunday Style, October 9, 1994.

    The article received the Texas Institute of Letters Award for best newspaper article published in 1994.

    And almost a decade later…

    “Anita Hill–The Complete Story,” Florence George Graves, The Boston Globe Magazine, January 19, 2003.

    While Anita Hill was letting her life “speak for itself,” the facts — many of them suppressed at the time — were unfolding in her favor. The newly disclosed information also was illuminating a deeply flawed system for approving one of the most powerful officials in the United States.

  17. Buckeye== There is a motorcycle club called The Patriot Guard Riders that assists families at servicemen’s funerals if requested by the family. They get between the Westboro jerks and the mourners on their motorcycles with large American flags to block them from view and rev their engines to drown out the vile shouts of the so-called “christians”. See an article on the Patriot Guard Riders on Wickipedia. Other than that you might see if the local police can help. Free speech is one of our greatest rights as Americans, but it’s a giant pain in the ass when it is abused by truly insensitive morons.

  18. No, it was directed at the Westboro folks….First and Second Amendment combined into one….It is my right to tell them first that I am going to shoot them…….Then it is protected speech…..and of course I have a right to pack and carry….

    Now if I made my home the grave site, then I could be defending my home and curtlidge….hmmmmm……

  20. I would exercise my right to free speech and shoot the bastards…Oh wait…that the 1st and second amendment….combined in one……..

Comments are closed.