McVeigh v. Cohen - Significance, "boysrch"--or, The Other Timothy Mcveigh, Judge Sporkin Rules, Judge Sporkin's Ruling And The Continuing Saga

plaintiff navy defense david

Plaintiff

Timothy R. McVeigh

Defendant

William Cohen, U.S. Secretary of Defense, et al.

Plaintiff's Claim

That by investigating his sexual orientation, the navy violated his rights under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1996, the Administrative Procedure Act, Department of Defense policy, and the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution; therefore, he sought that the Navy be enjoined from its attempts to discharge him.

Chief Lawyer for Plaintiff

Christopher Wolf

Chief Defense Lawyer

David Glass

Judge

U.S. District Judge Stanley Sporkin

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

26 January 1998

Decision

That plaintiff's case passed a four-part test for preliminary injunction, and the defendants were preliminarily enjoined from taking any adverse action against the defendant on the basis of his alleged sexual orientation, pending final resolution of the plaintiff's complaint.

Additional Topics

McVeigh v. Cohen - Significance

This case attempted to deal with the new policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and its constitutionality. One of the first issues approached by President Bill Clinton after his inauguration in January of 1993 was the question of gays in the military. For years, of course, homosexual males and females had served in the armed forces without announcing their sexual orientation. After President Clinton wa…

McVeigh v. Cohen - "boysrch"--or, The Other Timothy Mcveigh

Ever since the Oklahoma City bombing of 19 April 1995, the name "Timothy McVeigh" has been highly recognizable--so much so that the judge in McVeigh v. Cohen began his ruling by referring to "Plaintiff Timothy R. McVeigh, who bears no relation to the Oklahoma City bombing defendant . . . " In addition to his name and its unfortunate connotation, U.S. Navy Senior Chief Timothy McVeigh had at least …

McVeigh v. Cohen - Judge Sporkin Rules

In order to be granted his request for preliminary injunction--that is, for the court to order the navy to stop its discharge proceedings--McVeigh had to show four things, in Judge Sporkin's words: "1) a substantial likelihood of success on the merits; 2) irreparable harm or injury absent an injunction; 3) less harm or injury to the other parties involved; and 4) the service of the public interest…

McVeigh v. Cohen - Judge Sporkin's Ruling And The Continuing Saga

The present case only being concerned with a preliminary injunction, Judge Sporkin offered speculation that "when this case is finally determined . . . [it will be] on the basis of the `Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue' policy." But in order to make that policy work, both sides would need to exercise some restraint. Up to this point, it was clear who had failed to do so: "So far . . . while Pla…

McVeigh v. Cohen - Impact

Involving as it did gay rights and the Internet, McVeigh dealt with issues that regularly made headlines in the 1990s; but it also involved concerns perennial to Americans, especially the right to privacy. Loundy offered a few conclusions in this regard. The "Bork Bill"--named after Judge Robert Bork, whose movie rental records had been obtained by a journalist during Bork's ultimately unsuccessfu…

McVeigh v. Cohen - Related Cases

The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) began as an "anti-wiretapping" law, and was intended to curtail the government's ability to wiretap telephone conversations without the consent of the parties. The need for this protection from government eavesdropping became clear after the Watergate scandal during President Nixon's administration in the 1960s. The original act demanded a "judicial…

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