Rulings

‘Don’t Ask’ to Stay Until Spring

During government's appeal.

A San Francisco appeals court ruled Monday that the military policy known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will stay in place while the court reviews the government’s appeal. DADT—enacted in 1993—allows the military to discharge openly gay service members, and some 13,000 people have been discharged under the law. U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips overturned the law in September, and later banned all discharges and investigations under the law. President Barack Obama’s administration has appealed her decision, and Monday’s ruling will keep the law in place during the appeals process, which will most likely take place in the spring. The majority opinion wrote that the law should stay in place temporarily because of “the public interest in ensuring orderly change of this magnitude in the military.”