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First Circuit Review 2009

The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” statute (DADT), enacted by Congress in 1993, allows homosexuals into the military if they do not engage in homosexual conduct.  Congress created DADT to preserve the morale and unit cohesion standards of the military, but the statute is often scrutinized in light of First Amendment principles.  In Cook v. Gates, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit considered whether DADT’s requirement of separating service members for homosexual admissions violates their First Amendment right to freedom of speech.  The majority reasoned that DADT does not violate service members’ First Amendment rights because it treats their verbal admissions of homosexuality as evidence of homosexual conduct and does not punish for mere speech.  Conversely, Judge Saris reasoned in his dissent that DADT’s presumption of homosexual admissions as evidence of conduct is a “dead letter” and “chills” service members’ speech. . . .