of the Ninth Circuit heard the appeal on November 5, 2007, and issued its ruling on May 21, 2008. Ninth Circuit ruling The Ninth Circuit panel vacated and remanded the District Court ruling in part, and affirmed the lower court in part. Specifically, the court reinstated Witt's substantive due process and procedural due process claims and affirmed the dismissal of her Equal Protection claim. The court based its ruling on an analysis of Lawrence v. Texas. This 2003 Supreme Court case found that the sodomy law of Texas violated the Fourteenth Amendment. Although the Supreme Court did not say so, the Ninth Circuit found that it had decided Lawrence by applying "heightened scrutiny". Although the terms "heightened scrutiny" and "intermediate scrutiny" are often used interchangeably, it is unclear whether the two are legally the same. In determining that Lawrence requires that DADT be subjected to heightened scrutiny, the Ninth Circuit found that there must be an "important" governmental interest at issue, that DADT must "significantly" further the governmental interest, and that there can be no less intrusive way for the government to advance that interest. The panel affirmed the dismissal of Witt's Equal Protection claim because the Supreme Court in Lawrence declined to address Equal Protection. Outcome The Obama administration declined to appeal, allowing a May 3, 2009, deadline to pass and leaving Witt as binding on the entire Ninth Circuit. The case headed to trial back in district court. Witt has been cited as precedent in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States, a case in the United States District Court for the Central District of California–over which the Ninth Circuit has appellate jurisdiction–which seeks a national injunction against the enforcement of DADT. Witt returned to the trial court on September 13, 2010. On September 24, 2010, District Judge Ronald B. Leighton ruled that Witt's constitutional rights had been violated by her discharge and that she must be reinstated to the Air Force. The government filed an appeal with the Ninth Circuit on November 23, but made no attempt to have the trial court's ruling stayed pending the outcome. Witt had hoped to return to her unit no later than January 2011. In a settlement announced on May 10, 2011, the Air Force agreed to drop its appeal and remove Witt's discharge from her military record. She will retire with full benefits. References 2008 in United States case law 2010