Wednesday, December 31, 2008

By Chris Rodda

On December 29, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) filed an amended complaint in the case of its co-plaintiff, decorated combat medic Army SPC Dustin Chalker. The amendment includes a number of additional examples of the "pattern and practice" of unconstitutional promotions of religion in the military, but, most importantly, now includes that SPC Chalker's attempt to resolve his complaint through military channels failed. Chalker was informed last week that the Army has determined his objection to Christian prayers at mandatory military functions to be "unfounded."

Those who were following the Jeremy Hall case may recall that the Department of Justice, in its entire 350-page motion to dismiss, really only had two arguments. One was that Hall hadn't exhausted military channels to resolve his complaint, and the other was that MRFF's allegations of a "pattern and practice" of unconstitutional promotions of religion throughout the military "lacked specificity." Both of these arguments are addressed with the Chalker complaint. (Jeremy Hall's case has essentially been replaced by the Chalker case because Hall, who served two tours in Iraq, is scheduled to leave the Army in a few months when his enlistment is up.)

The amended complaint notes that both SPC Chalker and a number of other service members have attempted to resolve their complaints through military channels, none with a satisfactory resolution. The Chalker complaint also lists a slew of examples of the widespread unconstitutional religious activity in the military and complete disregard of both military regulations and the Constitution, presented with far more "specificity" than is customary in a filing like this. Among the many new "pattern and practice" examples added in the amended complaint are the participation of the U.S. military in the production of a Christian reality TV series, the publication in the Air Force's quarterly magazine of the anti-Muslim writings of a member of a extremist Christian white supremacist organization, the U.S. military's involvement in the evangelizing of Iraqis and Afghans, and the U.S. Air Force's official sponsorship of an evangelical Christian motocross ministry.

Here's the press release put out by MRFF, which contains a link to the entire complaint, as well as a link to just the new items added in the amendment. It also includes a link to the AP article about the amended complaint.

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