What People Think
 |
 |
61% For, 39% Against
Take Action
| Vote on this Bill | |
  |
For |
  |
Against |
| Speak Out | |
  |
Comment on this Bill |
  |
Alert Your Friends and Colleagues |
  |
Write Your Representative in Congress |
| Save & Share | |
 |
del.icio.us |
 |
Digg |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
Yahoo! |
S. 357, The Equal Justice for United States Military Personnel Act of 2009 (2 comments ↓)
S. 357 would allow for certiorari review of certain cases denied relief or review by the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.
()
Learn More
RSS Feeds for This Bill
Keep yourself updated on user contributions and debates about this bill! (Learn more about RSS.)
Visitor Comments
Norbert Basil MacLean III
March 11, 2009, 4:48pm (report abuse)Here are some of the bill's supporters: Military Officers Association of America; Fleet Reserve Association; Jewish War Veterans of the USA; National Institute of Military Justice; American Bar Association & ACLU.
The bill was opposed in past Congresses by Dept. of Defense officials claiming that opening up the Supreme Court to servicemembers would only serve to burden the Supreme Court. This argument is rubbish and wholly without merit. Servicemembers make so many sacrifices for the defense and protection of our country. At the very minimum they deserve fair and just legal treatment - which means access to the nation’s highest court in the land they serve to protect and defend. A cornerstone of democracy is due process for both civilian citizens as well as uniformed citizens. To short-change our servicemembers while we afford illegal aliens and enemy combatants access to the Supreme Court degrades the ideals and principals for which our brave servicemembers risk their lives.
Norb MacLean
March 11, 2009, 6:36pm (report abuse)Anyone interested in reading up on the subject may read a recent Congressional Research Service report issued on Jan 30, 2009. Here's a link to the CRS Report: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL34697.pdf
Prior to voting on this subject please consider reading the CRS report and doing some due diligence on the subject.
Two of the cosponsors of the House version (HR 569 - identical to the Senate bill) are retired Navy veterans. Rep. Joe Sestak a retired Navy Vice Admiral supports the bill. Also Rep. Eric Massa, a U.S. Naval Academy grad and retired Navy Commander has cosponsored the bill and said "The Equal Justice For Our Military Act is just common sense legislation. We send our soldiers to fight for and defend the ideals of justice and yet we currently have a legal system set up that works against soldiers in the field of justice. This bill would correct this oversight and it needs to be passed immediately. See: http://www.thealbanyproject.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5648