Don't Ask Don't Tell Ruled Unconstitutional

A federal judge in California declared the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy unconstitutional.

The House voted to repeal the ban in May, as did the Senate Armed Service Committee, and President Obama said he looked forward to signing a bill repealing the ban. "This legislation will make our Armed Forces even stronger and more inclusive by allowing gay and lesbian soldiers to serve honestly and with integrity," he said.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called the repeal "the right thing to do."

The U.S. Defense Department bill that includes the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" is ready for final action in the Senate, and gay rights advocates are hopeful because they need only a majority vote for passage. But the Senate has a crowded docket until after the November elections.

"We are facing a critical moment, but we're in the best possible place we could be because it (repeal) is in the bill," Allison Herwitt, legislative director for the Human Rights Campaign, said on Friday.

Phillips is the first judge to rule the "don't ask" policy is unconstitutional, but hers is not likely to be final word. While she could issue an order telling the Pentagon to end it, the U.S. Department of Justice could go the 9th Circuit Court in San Francisco or to the Supreme Court and obtain an order putting her decision on hold while an appeal goes forward.

The Pentagon declined to comment on the judge's decision, referring questions to the Justice Department.

The ruling by Phillips, who was appointed by President Clinton in 1999, was the third decision this summer by a federal judge striking down anti-gay discrimination as unconstitutional.

In Thursday's decision, Judge Phillips followed a similar path by concluding that the military's discriminatory policy against gays and lesbians could not be justified by the evidence presented.