Conservatives are condemning as "egregious" and "outrageous" U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips' decision to declare unconstitutional the Pentagon's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy on homosexuals serving in armed forces – and they're accusing the Obama administration of "throwing the case."
Phillips, a California-based federal judge, reportedly plans to collaborate with the pro-homosexual activist group that brought suit against the "gay" ban, the Log Cabin Republicans, in writing an injunction to ban "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" throughout the United States.
Campbell University School of Law professor William Woodruff, however, points out that any decision by Phillips would not have nationwide effect immediately. If her decision is affirmed on appeal by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, it would be enforced only in that geographical jurisdiction, the western United States.
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Conservative activists are incensed. Tom Sears, executive director of the Center for Military Readiness, dismissed the decision as an "activist ruling."
"This [ruling] is particularly egregious because it disregards the deference that is traditionally given to the military and to Congress by the courts," he said.
"Outrageous. Unbelievable. Our armed forces are fighting the enemy overseas while this lunatic judge behind our own lines decides to throw a hand grenade right into our own barracks," said Robert Knight, senior writer for Coral Ridge Ministries.
"The arrogance of this judge is stunning," said Knight, an expert on homosexuality-related political issues and a long-time leader in the fight against homosexual activism.
"She has decided she is smarter than God, more than 1,163 retired generals and admirals who support the military's policy, the hundreds of congressmen and senators who voted for the law in 1993 and generations of military leaders who believed that morality affects discipline and that homosexual conduct undermines military preparedness," Knight said.
Sears pointed out that the judge appeared to be confusing the written law governing homosexual participation in the military with an executive policy implemented by the Clinton administration.
"'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is not the law. The law states plainly that homosexuals are ineligible for military service, a point that is conspicuously ignored by this judge's ruling. What they and other judges who oppose this policy have attempted to do is to characterize the policy as the law," he said.
Sears argued that the purpose of the law is not to create a right for homosexuals to serve.
"The purpose of the law is to maintain the effectiveness of the military," said Sears. "In 1993 Congress conducted numerous hearings and studies and concluded that the presence of open homosexuality in the military was not conducive to good order, discipline, unit cohesion and morale."
Knight blasted the Obama administration's weak defense of restrictions on homosexuals serving in the military.
"They're trying to throw the case, as they did the DOMA case in Massachusetts where Elena Kagan presented the weakest defense possible," he said.
"They didn't bring out any of the evidence explaining why allowing open homosexuality would harm the armed forces."
Knight quickly listed a series of problems, including health threats, impaired unit cohesion, infringements on the consciences of chaplains, forced re-education of religious soldiers, impaired recruitment and retention of soldiers, and likely increased incidence of sex-related crimes.
"Let's start with the health implications," said Knight. "Homosexual men have an astronomically higher incidence of blood-borne illnesses such as AIDS and Hepatitis A, B and C. Putting open homosexuals in the military puts the military blood supply at risk and would imperil in-the-field transfusions."
Knight cited a survey finding that 10 percent of active-duty soldiers would refuse to re-enlist if open homosexuality became the rule in the military, and an additional 14 percent would consider leaving the service. He also referred to a study finding that homosexuals, while less than 2 percent of soldiers, commit 8 percent of sexual assaults in the military.