BILL ANALYSIS �
AJR 44
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AJR 44 (Bloom)
As Amended June 12, 2014
Majority vote
VETERANS AFFAIRS 8-0
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|Ayes:|Quirk-Silva, Ch�vez, | | |
| |Brown, Eggman, Fox, | | |
| |Muratsuchi, Salas, Yamada | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Urges the Department of Defense, the United States
Congress, and the President of the United States to create a
more efficient process of upgrading the status of those who were
"dishonorably" or other than honorably discharged from the Armed
Forces of the United States, and to provide benefits, including
applicable spousal benefits, to those veterans discharged solely
on the basis of their sexual orientation.
Directs the Chief Clerk of the Assembly to transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the
United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
to the Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and
Representative from California in the Congress of the United
States, and to the Department of Defense.
COMMENTS : According to the Servicemembers' Legal Defense
Network:
The discharge characterization for those discharged
under DADT [Don't Ask, Don't Tell] or the prior policy
should accurately reflect the character of their
service. This is not always the case.
Service members who were discharged under DADT
generally received an Honorable or General Under
Honorable Conditions discharge based on their service
records. However, a service member discharged for a
"Homosexual Act" that involved a so-called
"aggravating factor" might have been given an Other
Than Honorable (OTH) discharge characterization. Most
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of the factors on the list (such as acts involving
minors, prostitutes or coercion) constituted
unacceptable behavior and should have resulted in an
OTH. But there were two "aggravating factors" that
did not inherently constitute misconduct and that
should not necessarily have resulted in OTH
discharges. These were acts committed openly in
public view (e.g., holding hands at a restaurant) and
acts committed on base or on post (e.g., a quick hug
while being dropped off).
In addition, the Navy and Marine Corps gave those
discharged for "marriage" or "attempted marriage" an
OTH, while in the Army and the Air Force, members
discharged for same conduct received Honorable or
General Under Honorable Conditions discharges, based
on their service record.
Service members discharged under the pre-DADT policy
were very likely to receive discharges that were less
than Honorable.
Less than Honorable discharge characterizations can
have lifelong consequences, such as limiting the
veteran's access to the GI Bill or Veterans
Administration healthcare.
Former service members who received a less than
Honorable discharge characterization that is not
reflective of their service are eligible to apply to
have that discharge upgraded to mirror their service?
Even if their discharges were Honorable, service
members discharged under DADT or the prior policy have
two notations on their discharge paperwork that they
might find troubling.
The negative reentry code (usually an RE-4
[reenlistment eligibility] code) marks the veteran as
someone who the military has made a judgment is not
fit for military service. It is typically reserved
for veterans whose discharge was related to
misconduct, such as drug or alcohol abuse.
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The narrative reason for discharge summarizes the
basis of a veteran's separation from the military. In
the case of a DADT discharge, the narrative reason is
often "Homosexual Conduct," "Homosexual Admission" or
even just "Homosexual."
Veterans often need to submit their discharge
paperwork when applying for jobs in the civilian
world. When the narrative reason for separation is
"Homosexual" or a variation on that, the former
service member is compelled to be immediately "out" to
perspective employers and anyone else who sees the
document. When there is a negative re-entry code,
employers may conclude the former service member had
engaged in misconduct while in the armed service.
The repeal of DADT and the adoption of a new
regulatory framework allowing LGB [lesbian, gay, and
bisexual] service members to serve openly allows those
discharged under DADT or the prior policy to apply to
have their discharge paperwork changed. Discharge
Review Boards (DRBs) can "change a discharge or
dismissal, or issue a new discharge" based on
"propriety and equity." This includes taking into
account current regulations and deeming a discharge
inequitable if policies and procedures "under which
the applicant was discharged differ in material
respects from those currently applicable on a
Service-wide basis" and if the "current policies or
procedures represent a substantial enhancement of the
rights afforded" to the applicant. Boards of
Correction for Military Records can likewise make
corrections to any military record when it is
necessary to "correct an error or remove an
injustice."
The existing discharge review board process is not easy to
understand, can take twelve months or more, and places the time,
expense, etc., all the burden on the discharged individual.
This may make sense in other contexts, but to truly undo the
damage caused by DADT and prior policies, it is inequitable to
make each servicemember fight his or her own individual battle.
Moreover, it is a waste of resources to have the Review Boards
hear the same issue over and over again only to reach the same
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conclusion.
Analysis Prepared by : John J. Spangler / V.A. / (916)
319-3550 FN:
0004026