Don't Ask Don't Tell in military maintained by SCOTUS

The highest court within the land has ruled that "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" (DADT) will continue to exist, as further review is essential to assess constitutionality. Justice Elena Kagan, a noted anti-DADT activist during her prior tenure at Harvard University, had been recused from the decision. As it stands, the 1993 Don’t Ask Don’t Tell law that bars gays from serving openly within the United States armed forces will stay in place until at least March, barring an unlikely act of Congress.

DADT still being looked at

DADT is something that will likely not be changes until March. Congress could repeal it though if it wanted to. The Ninth Circuit Court’s review of a federal judge’s decision to repeal DADT is on the docket for late February/early March, and that can be the earliest opportunity to revisit DADT, barring an act of Congress.

The Circuit Court decided to stay the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban that the federal judge decided. The court denied the request from the gay rights group. Not only has the plea to block the policy in full been denied until at least March, but a related request to prevent the Pentagon from ordering discharges has also been denied.

Justice Kagen gets disqualified

All participation being stopped was something Justice Elena Kagan made the decision to do. She got herself out of it all. Kagan’s opposition stance on "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" while at Harvard – as well as actions she took against "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" when serving as U.S. Solicitor General – led her to recues herself so that impartiality would be maintained within the Supreme Court’s decision.

Obama had already argued to leave DADT alone

The Obama administration has urged SCOTUS justices to leave DADT in place, according to the SCOTUS blog. The president’s argument centers on recent changes within the Pentagon’s discharge policy. It has been sold as granting "greater protection" to gays in the military, but the reality is rather different, note numerous sources, including noted gay-friendly MSNBC host Rachel Maddow. Discharges can still happen although the highest level of command has to authorize them beforehand.

Articles cited

Scotus Blog

scotusblog.com/2010/11/new-plea-to-end-military-gay-ban/

Rachel Maddow pops the cork prematurely

youtube.com/watch?v=i2ep6if_GLY