A federal judge ruled Friday to have former Air Force Major Margaret Witt reinstated to her job after she was discharged under "don't ask, don't tell."
U.S. district judge Ronald B. Leighton ordered that she be given her job as a flight nurse back as soon as possible. She was working at McChord Air Force Base near Tacoma, Wash.
Leighton originally rejected former Witt's claim that her rights were violated when she was discharged under "don't ask, don't tell" in 2006. Two years later, an appeals court rejected his ruling, sending the case back to Leighton. The appeal said the military can't use sexual orientation for grounds for firing unless it can prove the dismissal was necessary to further military goals. Leighton must now evaluate whether Witt's firing was valid on those grounds.
Witt graduated from Pacific Lutheran University in 1986. Witt served in the Persian Gulf, has received many medals and commendations, and has always had superb evaluations from her superiors in nearly two decades of service, according to a statement from the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington State Washington, which represented Witt.
"Yet another judge has taken yet another righteous, historic, and courageous stand against a discriminatory and unconstitutional law," Alexander Nicholson, founder and Executive Director of Servicemembers United, said in a statement. "Major Witt's case is a clear-cut one in which her discharge itself actually harmed unit cohesion, morale, and combat readiness."
Witt, whose trial was in Tacoma, Wash. is involved in one of two ongoing legal challenges in the federal courts over "don't ask, don't tell." Thursday, the Department of Justice asked U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Phillips, who ruled Sept. 9 that "don't ask, don't tell" is unconstitutional, to keep the law in effect so Congress may repeal the ban. However, the U.S. Senate failed to advance a bill containing language that would have repealed "don't ask, don't tell."
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