A federal judge Friday ordered the reinstatement of an Air Force nurse discharged from the military under the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy that forbids openly gay service members. It was the latest judicial setback for a law under attack in both the nation’s courtrooms and the halls of Congress.

U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton announced to a packed courtroom in Tacoma, Wash., that evidence at a six-day trial showed former Air Force Reserves Maj. Margaret Witt was an ‘exemplary officer’ who should be ‘reinstated at the earliest possible moment.’

‘Good flight nurses are hard to find,’ Leighton wrote in a 15-page opinion.

In a statement, Witt said she was proud of her career and wanted to serve her country. ‘Wounded people never asked me about my sexual orientation. They were just glad to see me there,’ she said.

Witt was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, which said it was the first time a judge had ordered a reinstatement of a service member discharged under ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’

Leighton had dismissed Witt’s first challenge to her 2006 dismissal. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit told the judge to reconsider the case under a standard of review that […]