The Hon. Virginia Phillips of the United States District Court for the Central District of California issued a nationwide injunction against enforcement of the discriminatory Don't Ask, Don't Tell law, and the administration and Defense Department are apparently complying with the order. The Pentagon's statement:
Earlier today, the Staff Judge Advocate Generals from the Military Services, in consultation with the OSD Office of General Counsel, sent to their Service Staff Judge Advocate counterparts in the field an e-mail informing them of the ruling by Judge Virginia Phillips of the Central District of California, issuing an injunction barring the enforcement or application of 10 USC 654, commonly known as the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" statute. The e-mail noted that the US Government is contemplating whether to appeal and to seek a stay of the injunction.
The Department of Defense will of course obey the law, and the e-mail noted that, in the meantime, the Department will abide by the terms in the court's ruling, effective as of the time and date of the ruling.
They will, unfortunately, appeal, and the Justice Department has filed its request seeking a stay of the injunction, asking the Court to let the Working Group complete its review of DADT by December 1 to figure out how to implement a repeal "in an orderly and comprehensive way."
As for whether this injunction ought to be appealed at all, I'll cover that in a subsequent story.