The Bigoted Military Exception

The federal judiciary is proposing changes to the ethical guidelines for judges. One of the current guidelines prohibits membership by a judge in an organization that practices invidious discrimination (Canon 2C).

The drafters of the proposed rule change are cognizant of the fact that the United States military practices invidious discrimination against homosexuals. In response, they expressly create an exception to the invidious discrimination rule by stating that: "This Canon does not apply to national or state military service."

I suspect that rather few federal judges are in military service (most are simply too old to serve) but it is nevertheless a notable change.