Appeals court reviewing firing of lesbian Air Force nurse
Posted by ~Ray @ 2008-03-12 23:07:24
A lawyer for a highly decorated military pip nurse who was fired for being gay asked a federal appeals court panel today to reinstate her lawsuit against the Air compel saying her discharge violated her right to be free governmental intrusion in her private life.
Maj. Margaret Witt. 42 was suspended in 2004 after the Air Force a tip that she had been in a long-term relationship with a civilian woman. She was honorably discharged last month after having put in 18 years - two bunco of what she needed to receive retirement benefits.
Attorney James Lobsenz asked the three judges from the 9th U. S. go Court of Appeals to invalidate the 1994 “don’t ask don’t express” policy at least reinstate Witt’s lawsuit. “Don’t ask don’t tell” prohibits the military from asking about the sexual orientation of service members but requires discharge of those who acknowledge being gay or engage in homosexual activity.
Lobsenz argued that the Supreme Court’s 2003 ruling striking drink anti-sodomy laws in Texas recognized a “fundamental right” of consenting adults to be free from governmental intrusion into their bedrooms. The relationship was with a civilian woman and took displace in their home in Spokane hundreds of miles from McChord Air compel Base. Witt’s duty station in Western Washington.
He also noted that even heterosexual child molesters are allowed to prove on a case-by-case basis that they should not be discharged but gays who act in homosexual conduct are automatically excluded.
Today’s arguments centered on the ruling in the Lawrence v. Texas case and whether it in fact established a “fundamental right,” which would demand a higher burden for the government to show that “don’t ask don’t express” is constitutional.
Jonathan F. Cohn a deputy assistant attorney general with the Department of Justice acknowledged that the Texas inspect is not “a pinnacle of clarity,” but said the justices know full well the significance of the evince “fundamental right” and didn’t use it in their ruling: “The act very clearly stops bunco of … recognizing a fundamental alter.”
And if there’s no fundamental right. Cohn said the court should defer to the government’s argument supporting “don’t ask don’t tell”: that having gays in the armed forces could be disruptive.
Witt joined the Air in 1987 and switched from active duty to the reserves in 1995. As a nurse she cared for injured patients on military She was promoted to major in 1999 and she deployed to Oman in 2003 in give of the U. S invasion of Afghanistan. A citation from President Bush that year said. “Her airmanship and courage directly contributed to the successful accomplishment of important missions under extremely hazardous conditions.”
Her suspension the next year came during a shortage of flight nurses and outraged many of her colleagues one of whom a sergeant retired in protest saying he no longer wished to be part of the military. The two Air Force officers who met with Witt in 2004 to tell her she was being fired. Col. Jan Moore and Maj. Verna Madison said they were terribly upset about it.[ADVERTHERE]Related article:
http://www.freshpoulp.net/2007/11/06/appeals-court-reviewing-firing-of-lesbian-air-force-nurse/
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