Great news, which is just breaking:

Federal district court judge Ronald Leighton has ruled that ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ — when applied to Major Margaret Witt — violated her rights. He says she should be allowed back in Air Force.

Leighton started breaking up and was in tears as he said that the love and support of family continued to be the best thing that came out of the case, said KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Kevin McCarty.

Yes, her discharge is unconstitutional. We’ll have more details later.

Here’s an update @ 5:20 PM:

Spokane resident Margaret Witt can be reinstated in the Air Force Reserves despite the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy on homosexuals in the military, a federal judge ruled today. U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Leighton ruled that Witt’s constitutional protections, and evidence that her unit did not suffer any loss of morale until she was discharged for being a lesbian, trump the general reasons set down by Congress for that policy She should be restored to her position as flight nurse . .. as soon as practical,” Leighton said.

UPDATE @ 5:29 PM: Statement from SU’s Alex Nicholson:

“Yet another judge has taken yet another righteous, historic, and courageous stand against a discriminatory and unconstitutional law. Major Witt’s case is a clear-cut one in which her discharge itself actually harmed unit cohesion, morale, and combat readiness.”

Now, we have to wait to see if the Department of Justice will appeal this case, too.