Meinhold v. US Dept. of Defense

• Decision Date: 29 January 1993
• Docket Number: No. CV 92-6044 TJH (JRx).,CV 92-6044 TJH (JRx).
• Citation: 808 F. Supp. 1455
• Parties: Volker Keith MEINHOLD, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Central District of California

808 F. Supp. 1455

Volker Keith MEINHOLD, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, et al., Defendants.

No. CV 92-6044 TJH (JRx).

United States District Court, C.D. California.

January 29, 1993.

Harry G. Melkonian, Christopher L. Rudd, John I. McGuire, White & Case, Los Angeles, CA, for plaintiff.

Stuart M. Gerson, Asst. Atty. Gen., Teree A. Bowers, U.S. Atty., Vincent M. Garvey, David M. Glass, Attys., Dept. of Justice, Washington, DC, for defendants.

AMENDED OPINION

HATTER, District Judge.

BACKGROUND

In 1980, at the age of 17, Volker Keith Meinhold enlisted in the United States Navy. Over the last twelve years, Meinhold has established a reputation for being a dedicated and disciplined sailor. As such, he earned his position as a Naval airborne sonar analyst and instructor. He has consistently received outstanding evaluations and has never been the subject of disciplinary action.

In 1992, Meinhold was discharged from the Navy and deprived of his career after he announced on an ABC television news program that he was gay. Meinhold was discharged not because he engaged in prohibited conduct, but because he labeled himself as gay. Meinhold filed this action in response to his discharge. Previously, this Court issued a preliminary injunction ordering the Navy to reinstate Meinhold pending a final resolution of this case.

The Court, now, decides this case on the merits based on the cross motions for summary judgment. The parties are in agreement on the relevant facts, and the Court finds that there are no genuine issues of material fact to preclude the rendering of a decision based on the law of the land. Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c). While Meinhold, also, attacks the administrative discharge procedures used by the Navy, the key issue presented to the Court is whether the United States Department of Defense may ban, from the armed forces of the United States, gays and lesbians who do not engage in prohibited conduct.

DISCUSSION

Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies

While it is clear to this Court that there were numerous procedural errors committed by the board of Naval officers convened for Meinhold's administrative discharge hearing, it is also undisputed that a new hearing would result in the same decision. Namely, Meinhold would, again, be discharged based on his status as a homosexual. Thus, requiring Meinhold to exhaust his intraservice remedies would be futile. See, Watkins v. U.S. Army, 875 F.2d 699, 705 (9th Cir.1989) (en banc), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 957, 111 S.Ct. 384, 112 L.Ed.2d 395 (1990). Therefore, this Court will proceed to the merits of Meinhold's claims.

Equal Protection

To survive Meinhold's claim that the Department of Defense's policy banning gays and lesbians based merely on status, and not conduct, violates the Equal Protection clause of the Fifth Amendment, the Department of Defense must establish, through a factual record, that its policy is rationally related to its permissible goals. Pruitt v. Cheney, 963 F.2d 1160, 1166-67 (9th Cir.1991), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 113 S.Ct. 655, 121 L.Ed.2d 581 (1992). In determining whether the policy is rationally related, the Court cannot merely defer to the "military judgment" as the rationale for the policy — the Court must consider the factual basis underlying the "military judgment." Pruitt, 963 F.2d at 1166-67.

The Navy contends that its ban against gays and lesbians is rationally related to its goals of maintaining discipline, good order and morale; fostering mutual trust and confidence among servicemembers; the need to recruit and retain servicemembers; and maintaining public acceptability of the Navy. Navy Military Personal Manual 3630400(1). Security concerns, once generally raised by supporters of the ban, however, are no longer a rationale, since gays and lesbians are not a security risk to the military, according to former Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney. Meet the Press (NBC television broadcast, Dec. 6, 1992).

The factual record placed before the Court by the Department of Defense is sparse. The Navy rests solely on a report produced by the United States General Accounting Office in June of 1992. General Accounting Office, Defense Force Management: Statistics Related to DoD's Policy on Homosexuality (1992). However, that report concludes nothing more than what the Department of Justice has already told the Court — the rationale for the policy banning gays and lesbians from the military is "not capable of being determined authoritatively by scientific means or proven studies." Defense Force Management, p. 69. The GAO reached the conclusion that the policy is based on "military judgment which is inherently subjective in nature and not susceptible to scientific or sociological analysis." Defense Force Management, p. 56. However, the military has, indeed, obtained scientific and sociological analyses upon which to base its decisions regarding gays and lesbians in the military.

In 1957, the Secretary of the Navy commissioned a report regarding the revision of its policies, procedures and directives dealing with homosexuals. Report of the Board Appointed to Prepare and Submit Recommendations to the Secretary of the Navy for the Revision of Policies, Procedures and Directives Dealing with Homosexuality (Mar. 15, 1957) "Crittenden Report". The Crittenden Report stated that there was no "visible supporting data to support the conclusion that gays and lesbians cannot acceptably serve in the military." Crittenden Report, p. 5. In 1976, the Chief of Naval Personnel stated that "no empirical proof exists at this time to support the Navy's contention that homosexuality has an adverse effect upon the completion of the military mission." Memorandum from Chief of Naval Personnel to Judge Advocate General (Aug. 2, 1976).

Moreover, in 1988, the Department of Defense commissioned a study of homosexual veterans which concluded that "having a same-gender or an opposite-gender orientation is unrelated to job performance in the same way as being left- or right-handed." Theodore R. Sarbin & Kenneth K. Eoyang, Nonconforming Sexual Orientation and Military...