Biden expected to pardon military veterans convicted under military law banning gay sex, officials say
Biden expected to pardon military veterans convicted under military law banning gay sex, officials say
President Joe Biden is expected to pardon US veterans who were convicted by the military over a 60-year period under a military law that banned gay sex, three US officials told CNN.
On the one hand, this is long overdue.
On the other, I've always considered pardons to be insulting when they're being distributed to people on the receiving end of injustice, as accepting a pardon is an admission of guilt.
The US Government was guilty here.
In the legal sense, a pardon is not an admission of guilt (see #4 ), but socially it bears the resemblance of an admission by someone who has not yet been charged or convicted. Given that these folks were already found legally guilty of a “crime” that is no longer a crime, I don’t see how accepting a pardon is an admission of anything other than they had been wronged.
But I’m just some straight cis white dude in the internet and my feelings are not the ones that matter in this matter.
What they ought to do is expunge the convictions and offer some form of recompense for the unjust treatment, but reparations aren't something our government wants to talk about.
I've never really thought about it this way. Good point.
I didn’t read it. Did it clear the way for honorable Discharges?
If so that is good
Yes, but there is paperwork.
In order to get their records changed under the pardon, individuals will need to complete an online application, which will go to their military service department. The services will then review the individual’s court-martial and service record and determine if they are eligible for the pardon; that determination will then be sent to the attorney general, acting through the Department of Justice’s pardon attorney, a US official explained.
The certificate of pardon does not automatically change someone’s discharge status. If a certificate of pardon is issued, the service member will then have to apply to their respective military department’s board of corrections to have their military records corrected.
A good move from Biden.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The pardon, which CNN is first to report on, specifically grants clemency to service members who were convicted under former Uniform Code of Military Justice Article 125 — which criminalized sodomy, including between consenting adults — between 1951 and 2013 when it was rewritten by Congress.
A bad-conduct discharge, for example, given under general court-martial, can make someone ineligible for services including a VA home loan military pension, and education benefits.
The pardon is separate from the Pentagon’s ongoing review of military records for those who were discharged based on their sexual orientation, which one of the officials said did not apply to convictions under the UCMJ.
The Pentagon launched a new outreach campaign last September to reach more veterans who believe they “suffered an error or injustice” to have their military records reviewed.
“For decades, our LGBTQ+ service members were forced to hide or were prevented from serving altogether,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at the time.
In order to get their records changed under the pardon, individuals will need to complete an online application, which will go to their military service department.
The original article contains 433 words, the summary contains 176 words. Saved 59%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Picking the absolutely lowest hanging fruit, must be an election year.
I know, right? He's doing something widely supported, which costs taxpayers nothing, and will improve the lives of a maligned minority! How horrible!
...
Jeez, guy, just celebrate a wrong being corrected. Is it political? Duh. Does that make it bad to do? Of course not.
Some people want to feel bad.
It's actually really nice to see these replies, with so many upvotes, and him with so many downvotes.
I've been getting really burned out on these guys crawling up and down any "positive" post. Usually getting voted up pretty highly.
Predictably, the “nothing is ever good enough!” crowd has arrived.
Oh shut up.