THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 29, 1994 TAG: 9411290303
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
The Clinton administration won't ask the Supreme Court to overturn the reinstatement of a sailor who declared his homosexuality on television.
Solicitor General Drew Days, who represents the government in the Supreme Court, gave no explanation Monday for his decision, said a Justice Department spokesman, Joe Krovisky.
The case involves Keith Meinhold, a Navy sonar operator who revealed on national television in 1992 that he is gay. He was discharged under military regulations that were replaced last year. The old Pentagon policy treated declarations of homosexuality as grounds for discharge.
Krovisky said Days made no decisions on the other 10 old policy cases now in district or appellate courts. An administration official who declined to be identified said Days has no plans for appeals in any old policy cases.
One of the old cases, that of National Guard Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer, a lesbian from Washington state, has been put on hold by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in the hope that a final ruling in the Meinhold case will settle hers as well. Like Meinhold, she has been reinstated pending the outcome of the court battles.
In another old policy case, the government won last week in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. That court ruled 7-3 that the U.S. Naval Academy does not have to reinstate a top student, Joseph C. Steffan, who was forced to resign in 1987, six weeks from graduation, because he admitted he was gay.
The administration would rather concentrate its attention on defending cases under the Clinton administration's new ``don't ask, don't tell'' policy, the administration official said. One such case is pending in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Under the new policy, service members who declare their homosexuality face discharge unless they can prove they won't engage in homosexual acts while in the service. Last month, the government told the 2nd Circuit that, in three instances under the new policy, gay service members have been able to overcome the presumption that they engage in or are likely to engage in homosexual acts, and they have been retained in the military.
In the Meinhold case, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit unanimously upheld U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter's reinstatement of Petty Officer Meinhold, who was denied re-enlistment after disclosing his homosexuality. But the 9th Circuit overturned the judge's nationwide order banning military discrimination based on sexual orientation.
The 9th Circuit said the case should be resolved by simply forbidding the Navy to discharge Meinhold solely because of his statement, which expressed no desire to engage in prohibited sexual conduct.
The administration official said the 9th Circuit ruling in the Meinhold case did not touch constitutional issues and would not affect enforcement of the new policy.
In addition, the official said, Clinton administration lawyers like the part of the 9th Circuit ruling that said it is constitutional to discharge service members for homosexual acts or for statements demonstrating a propensity to engage in such acts.
Meinhold was unavailable for comment Monday, but his lawyer, John McGuire, said, ``I'm ecstatic if they're not going to take the case up to the Supreme Court.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Meinhold
KEYWORDS: GAYS IN THE MILITARY by CNB