In a bit of a surprise, a federal trial judge in California has declared that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is unconstitutional. US District Judge Virginia Phillips’ opinion, released Thursday night, has the potential to be a landmark decision on the DADT issue.
As MetroWeekly’s lawyer-turned-reporter Chris Geidner laid out in his post Friday morning, Log Cabin Republicans v. United States demolishes DADT supporters’ principal arguments that any repeal would damage unit cohesion or unit readiness, and – in the judges’ eyes – demonstrated that the law was unconstitutional as it applied to every American, and not just the members of LCR.
While it remains to be seen whether the Obama administration will appeal the ruling, and Phillips has yet to issue a final ruling which would determine a remedy, this case may prove to be a remedy for the apparently stalled legislative efforts to repeal the law.
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