The military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (“DADT”) policy on homosexual service members is put through the wringer in Witt v. Dept. of the Air Force, case no. 06-35644 (9th Cir. May 21, 2008). The Ninth reverses the district court’s Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal of Major Witt’s complaint alleging that her impending discharge on the ground of homosexuality violates substantive due process, procedural due process, and equal protection. The key to the ruling was the Supreme Court’s decision in Lawrence v. Texas (2003) 539 U.S. 558, On substantive due process, the court determines that Lawrence requires more careful scrutiny of DADT than the Ninth’s previous standard of rational basis review, even though…
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Car Towing and Due Process
Mary Clement is a responsible automobile owner. Though she hasn’t driven her 1981 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz in seven years, she dutifully maintains the car’s “Planned Non-Operation” (PNO) status – an alternative to normal registration for cars that will not be driven on public streets nor parked in publicly accessible parking lots. Clement kept her Caddy parked in the parking lot of her residence – a hotel – with the permission of the owner. A Glendale police officer decided to tow it because it was illegally parked in a publicly accessible lot. When Clement sued under 42 USC ยง 1983 for deprivation of her due process rights, the police officer successfully…