Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: U.S. tries anew to oust gay sailor Date: Sat, 21 Nov 92 17:35:41 EST Message-ID: \SE A;NATION \SS (WS) \HD U.S. tries anew to oust gay sailor \BY ASSOCIATED PRESS The Justice Department yesterday renewed its effort to oust from the Navy a homosexual sailor who was reinstated this month by a federal judge in Los Angeles. The department, shifting strategy, appealed to a federal appeals court here to overturn the temporary order reinstating Petty Officer Keith Meinhold, 30, to his old job. The government wants to shift the case from the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington. A Justice Department source, requesting anonymity, said the move was prompted in part by hopes the government will get more favorable treatment in the appeals court in the nation's capital. Department lawyers, in a legal brief, said the appeals court in Washington has authority in the case because Petty Officer Meinhold is seeking back pay of less than $10,000. The appeals court for the federal circuit has jurisdiction over such relatively minor financial claims against the government. The appeal said putting Petty Officer Meinhold back in his old job violated Navy policy and his "presence in the military environment . . . seriously impairs the accomplishment of the military mission." U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. in Los Angeles told government attorneys Monday that since they previously appealed his reinstatement order to the 9th Circuit Court, he no longer had jurisdiction in the case. Judge Hatter earlier ordered the Navy to reinstate the 12-year Navy veteran who was honorably discharged in August after disclosing on national television that he is homosexual. Judge Hatter said Petty Officer Meinhold must be returned to his old job pending the outcome of his lawsuit challenging the Pentagon's ban on homosexuals. The sailor returned to duty Nov. 12 as a sonar technician for submarine-hunting P-3 aircraft at Moffett Field Naval Air Station in Mountain View, Calif. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM