U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Philips of Riverside has denied a request to put her ban on the military’s "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy on hold while the government appeals the case.
In September, Phillips declared the military's ban on openly gay service members unconstitutional. Last week she ordered the military to stop enforcing the ban. In an order released this afternoon, she said the Justice Department had not proved the military would suffer "irreparable harm" by allowing her order to take effect. She says that:
“Although Defendants objected to the issuance of the injunction and its scope, they provided no evidence regarding the alleged disruption or need to revise ‘dozens of policies and regulations,’ as described in [a government declaration.]”
The administration is expected to ask the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco for a stay while Phillips’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” order is under appeal. The same court recently imposed a stay in another case central to the battle over gay and lesbian rights: Judge Vaughn R. Walker’s August order striking down California’s ban on same-sex marriage.
Read Judge Phillips's order (PDF).