Thorne v. US Dept of Defense ( 1998 )

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 97-1121
TRACY THORNE,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
versus
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE; WILLIAM
J. PERRY, Secretary of Defense; UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY; JOHN H. DALTON,
Secretary of the Navy,
Defendants - Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern Dis-
trict of Virginia, at Alexandria. T. S. Ellis, III, District
Judge. (CA-95-369)
Submitted: March 31, 1998 Decided: April 9, 1998
Before MURNAGHAN and NIEMEYER, Circuit Judges, and PHILLIPS, Senior
Circuit Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Tracy Thorne, Appellant Pro Se. Edward Roy Hawkens, UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Appellees.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
See Local Rule 36(c).
PER CURIAM:
Lieutenant Tracy Thorne appeals an order of the district court
upholding his involuntary discharge from the United States Navy on
account of his acknowledged homosexuality. 916 F. Supp. 1358 (E.D.
Va. 1996). He contends that the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" plan, see
10 U.S.C. § 654 (1994), and implementing regulations, under which
he was discharged are unconstitutional. We have held to the con-
trary. See Thomasson v. Perry, 80 F.3d 915 (4th Cir.) (en banc),
cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 65 U.S.L.W. 3305, 65 U.S.L.W. 3309(U.S. Oct. 21, 1996) (No. 96-1). We have considered and rejected
Thorne's remaining claims on appeal. The judgment of the district
court is therefore affirmed. We deny Thorne's motion for oral
argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately
presented in the materials before the court and argument would not
aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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