Court reinstates 'don't ask, don't tell'

LOS ANGELES -- A federal appeals court reversed itself and temporarily reinstated the "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays in the U.S. military, but it blocked the Defense Department from investigating or discharging anyone under the policy.

In an order issued late Friday, a three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with a request by President Barack Obama's administration to temporarily reinstate the policy against allowing openly gay men and women to serve in the military.

The government has said it needs more time to prepare for an end to the controversial policy.

Obama signed legislation in December to repeal "don't ask, don't tell" but the bill gave the Pentagon an unlimited time frame to implement the change, leading up to a final certification of the repeal.

In the meantime, a separate challenge to the policy had advanced in the federal court system, where last week the 9th U.S. Circuit Court panel upheld a lower-court decision declaring "don't ask, don't tell" unconstitutional and ordered the military to lift the ban immediately.

In Friday's three-page ruling, the judges said they have been informed that senior military officials have made plans to end "don't ask, don't tell" and that certification will be presented to Obama by the end of this month or in early August.

The judges said they were temporarily reinstating the policy "in order to provide this court with an opportunity to consider fully the issues presented in light of these previously undisclosed facts."