PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 29, 2008 Contact: Bekki Miller MILITARY RELIGIOUS FREEDOM FOUNDATION AND CO-PLAINTIFF AMEND FEDERAL LAWSUIT TO INCLUDE MULTIPLE NEW CASES OF UNCONSTITUTIONAL RELIGIOUS INCURSION IN U.S. MILITARY December 29, 2008 ALBUQUERQUE, NM and KANSAS CITY, KS – The Military Religious Freedom Foundation and Co-Plaintiff SPC Dustin Chalker amended their landmark federal lawsuit today to include two additions regarding unsuccessful attempts by service members to resolve their complaints through military channels. This is extremely important because the Department of Justice's (DoJ's) motion to dismiss Jeremy Hall's case relied heavily upon the "Mindes Doctrine," asserting that the federal courts should not hear Hall's case because he had failed to utilize the military channels that the DoJ claims would have adequately handled the complaint. Based on a number of reports received from service members who have unsuccessfully attempted to utilize these military channels, MRFF contends that these military channels consistently fail to adequately address or resolve such complaints. In addition to the assertion of the inefficacy of military channels to resolve cases of religious discrimination in the United States armed forces, today's amended filing includes five new categories of examples showing the "pattern and practice" of constitutionally impermissible promotions of religion by the military. Michael L. "Mikey" Weinstein, President and Founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, released the following statement regarding the amended filing: "Today, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, and its co-plaintiff Specialist Dustin Chalker, officially amend our Kansas City-based Federal lawsuit against Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the Department of Defense (DoD) to include many new and shocking additional examples of the noxiously unconstitutional pattern and practice of fundamentalist Christian oppression in our U.S. armed forces. The list of amended items is at once quite literally shameful and astonishing. It includes military-sanctioned missionary proselytizing of Iraqi and Afghan citizens, an official USAF sponsored evangelical motocross team ministry, the prominent featuring of a Christian/white supremacist in the USAF's flagship quarterly professional magazine and the unbridled Christian supremacy espoused in a U.S. Army suicide prevention program, to name just a few. Our amended complaint is specifically designed to further stab at the throbbing unconstitutional heart of darkness that comprises the systemic fundamentalist Christianity so pervasive and pernicious in today's American armed forces." Details and actual text of lawsuit amendments can be viewed here: http://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/press-releases/lawsuit_dec08_detail.html The amended filing can be downloaded here: http://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/amend_dec08.pdf The Associated Press's coverage of this amended filing can be viewed here: http://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/press-releases/ap_amend2.html MRFF, which has recorded nearly 11,000 active duty military clients, is a nonprofit charity dedicated to the protection of thousands of U.S. military personnel from unconstitutional religious practices forced on them by military superiors against their will. Weinstein and MRFF have recently filed suit on behalf of soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen who have been victims of religious intolerance and have had their constitutional rights violated. MRFF's website can be found at http://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org. Mikey Weinstein is an honor graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and a former USAF Judge Advocate General. He was Assistant General Counsel in the Reagan White House and served as General Counsel to Texas billionaire and two-time Presidential candidate H. Ross Perot and Perot Systems Corporation. Weinstein is the co-author of “With God on Our Side: One Man’s War Against an Evangelical Coup in America’s Military”(St. Martins Press, 2006). He and his family have been most recently featured in “Constantine’s Sword,” a documentary outlining the historical interaction between the Jewish and Christian faiths, directed by Oscar nominee Oren Jacoby. ###
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