12
Legal
Q-NOTES • JULY 19 . 2003
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Vietnam vet files challenge to
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Case is first foliowing Supreme
Court sodomy decision
by Steve Ralls
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lieutenant Colonel
Steve Loomis, a decorated Vietnam combat vet
eran and recipient of the Purple Heart, filed suit
)uly 8 with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims chal
lenging the constitutionality of “Don’t Ask, Don’t
Tell" and the federal sodomy statute,
among other claims. The challenge is based on
the recent U.S. Supreme Court opinion in
Lawrence v. Texas, which declared that the
Texas sodomy statute violated the United
States Constitution’s guarantee of a right to pri
vacy. Loomis is seeking to reverse his 1997 dis
charge from the United States Ariny.
Service members Legal Defense Network
(SLDN), which represented Loomis during his
initial discharge proceedings, noted that his
case is the first of several likely to be filed in
the wake of Lawrence. “[This case] has a
direct impact on the federal sodomy statute
and the military’s gay ban," said SLDN
Executive Director C. Dixon Osburn. “Under
‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ the federal govern
ment regularly intrudes in the most personal
aspects of our lives. That is wrong and it is
time for the government to change."
According to Pentagon statistics reported
by SLDN, the Pentagon has discharged more
than 9’,000 service members for being gay
since “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was first imple
mented 10 years ago. Congress codified
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” into law in 1993 in
response to President Clinton’s efforts to end
discrimination against gay, lesbian and
bisexual service members. The law requires
LGB service members to keep their sexual
orientation an absolute secret or face the risk
of discharge.
The Army discharged Loomis, a former
engineer war plans officer, for being gay eight
days prior to his 20 year retirement date. As
a result, Loomis forfeited his retirement pen
sion worth an estimated $1 million. Each of
the Army officers sitting on the discharge
board that determined Loomis’ fate called
homosexuality “a sickness” or said they had
“no tolerance” for homosexuality. Efforts to
remove those officers from the discharge
board for bias failed.
The Army based its discharge on a video
tape seized during an arson investigation. An
arsonist set fire to Loomis’ home in 1996.
Civilian authorities investigating the arson
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Lieutenant Colonel Steve
Loomis is challenging the
constitutionality of "Don't
Ask, Don't Tell" in the U.S.
Court of Federal Claims.
found the
videotape,
which
depicts
Loomis in
private
adult con-
sensual
sexual con
duct, and
handed it
over to
Army offi
cials. The
Army used
the video
tape as the
basis for
discharge,
ending the
decorated
veteran’s distinguished career. The Army
provided Loomis no assistance in respond- '
ing to the tragedy of losing his home or
possessions. j
Loomis appealed his discharge through
the military’s administrative process, peti
tioning the Army Board for the Correction of
Military Records (BCMR). The Board declined
to reinstate Loomis to the Army or award him
his retirement benefits.
Loomis’ suit challenges the constitution
ality of both the federal sodomy statute and
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” based on the recent
United States Supreme Court opinion in
Lawrence v. Texas that struck down Texas’
sodomy statute, justice Anthony Kennedy, in
writing the court’s majority opinion, stated
that the “right to liberty under the Due
Process Clause gives...the full right to
engage in private conduct without govern
ment intervention.”
The United State Supreme Court has not
ruled on the constitutionality of the military’s
sodomy statute or “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
Four appellate courts have upheld “Don’t Ask,
Don’t Tell” to date. “The legal landscape has
changed since the earlier courts’ rulings,” said
Osburn. “Those decisions were based in part
on a view that the state could regulate private
consensual sexual conduct under Bowers v.
Hardwick,” an earlier Supreme Court opinion
upholding Georgia’s sodomy statute that the
current court has now overruled.
see VET on 13
• Thanks again for your
continued support. IHj