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Developments In Two Army Religious Discrimination Matters

By Howard M. Friedman

There have been developments in two arenas involving alleged religious discrimination in the U.S. Army. According to the AP, Attorneys for Pfc. Jeremy Hall filed a motion Friday in federal court in Kansas to dismiss Hall's suit against the military. The suit charged Hall was prevented from holding a meeting of atheist soldiers when he was deployed in Iraq. Hall plans to leave the Army next year, and this avoids litigation over Hall's standing to continue the suit. However a lawsuit filed in October by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation on behalf of Spc. Dustin Chalker raises related claims that soldiers were forced to attend events that featured Christian prayers. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]

Meanwhile, in an unrelated case, the AP reports that an Army trainee who physically attacked a Jewish soldier who was also in basic training at Ft. Benning will not face criminal charges. Instead he will face non-judicial punishment. The victim, Pvt. Michael Handman, and his family think the beating was motivated by anti-Semitism, since it came only a few days after Handman complained about anti-Semitic harassment by two drill sergeants. However Army investigators say the beating was not motivated by religious bigotry. (See prior related posting.)

Full post as published by Religion Clause on October 11, 2008 (boomark / email).