Judge Agrees to Hear DADT Case

A federal judge agreed Monday to hear a challenge to the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that the Obama administration had sought to have thrown out.

The case, Log Cabin Republicans v. The United States of America, challenges the constitutionality of the military ban. A lawyer for LCR confirmed that the challenge would be heard next month.

According to the Associated Press, “Lawyer Dan Woods says U.S. District Court Judge Virginia A. Phillips in Riverside, Calif. agreed Monday to send the case to trial July 13.”

The challenge puts the Obama administration in the position of defending the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in court while Congress attempts to accomplish repeal. The Justice Department has asked the judge to put the case on hold while the issue moved through Congress, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

“Since the House has already voted to add a repeal of the policy to the military appropriations bill, and the Senate is preparing to consider the same step, a little patience might spare the judiciary from the time and expense of a trial, government lawyers argued in court papers,” reported the Chronicle. “Besides, they said, the Supreme Court has recognized that judges don't know much about the military, and Congress is much more qualified to make these kinds of decisions.”