Judge Rejects Discharge Under DADT
The New York Times reports:
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A federal judge ruled Friday that a decorated flight nurse discharged from the Air Force for being a lesbian should be given her job back as soon as possible in the latest legal setback to the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
The decision by Judge Ronald B. Leighton of Federal District Court comes as a tense debate has been playing out over the policy. Senate Republicans blocked an effort to allow lifting the ban on the policy this week, but two federal judges have ruled against the policy in recent weeks.
The nurse, Maj. Margaret Witt, had sued to get her job back.
A judge in 2006 rejected Major Witt’s claims that the Air Force violated her rights when it fired her. An appeals court panel overruled that judge two years later, leaving it to Judge Leighton to determine whether her firing met that standard.
Major Witt, of Spokane, joined the Air Force in 1987 and was suspended in 2004 just short of retirement after her commanders learned she was in a relationship with a civilian woman.
Her lawyers, led by the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, asserted that Major Witt was well respected and liked by her colleagues, that her sexuality never caused problems in the unit, and that her firing actually hurt military goals on morale, unit cohesion and troop readiness. Several members of the squadron testified to that effect and said they would welcome Major Witt back to the unit.
Air Force lawyers said that military personnel decisions cannot be run by unit referendum.
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