Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft (COMD)

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From Draft NOtices, July-September 2014

LETTERS NEEDED!

— Rick Jahnkow
    

The California bill that would require male driver’s license applicants to register for a possible future military draft has moved forward in the state legislature.

Introduced by Assembly member Rocky Chavez (R-Oceanside), Assembly Bill 2201 passed the California Assembly on May 27 by a vote of 66-4. It then went to the California Senate, where it passed the Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing by a vote of 10-1 on June 24.

AB 2201 is now in the hands of the Senate Appropriations Committee, where it will be given a hearing on August 4. If it is approved by that committee, it will go to the full Senate for a floor vote. It if passes there it will go to the governor’s office for his signature or veto.

When this bill was introduced in 2011, it was held in suspension by the Senate Appropriations Committee until it died at the end of the legislative session. Other earlier versions also were held in appropriations committees until they expired.

If passed, AB 2201 would deem that an individual who is required by federal law to register with the Selective Service System has consented to being registered by completing a driver’s license application or license renewal form. Essentially, the individual would be involuntarily registered with Selective Service by the California Department of Motor Vehicles. There would be no alternative for that person, other than driving without a license or not driving at all.

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From Draft NOtices, July-September 2014

Governor Intervenes to reverse earlier credential decision

—Rick Jahnkow
    

In April of this year, the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) voted to reject proposed changes to a state regulation that, if approved, would have established a way for JROTC instructors to qualify for authorization to teach physical education in their military science and basic military drill classes. Under the proposal, JROTC instructors would have had to either pass a special skills test -- the California Subject Examination for Teachers — or complete an approved subject matter program, but they still would have been exempt from the more extensive academic standards that must be met to obtain a regular PE teaching credential.

After the CTC rejected the proposal, it was reported that Governor Brown was very upset and put pressure on the CTC to reconsider its vote. The commission then voted on June 19 to reverse its earlier decision and amend the regulation to create a special PE teaching authorization for JROTC instructors.

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From Draft NOtices, July-September 2014

Testimonies recount unethical health care practices, command disregard of medical advice, and violations of base policy.

— Rena Guay and Kathleen Gilberd
    

This Memorial Day, a national group of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their supporters marked the solemn holiday by exposing unethical healthcare practices at the largest Army post in the country, Fort Hood. Commanders with no medical training deploying ill and injured soldiers against doctors’ recommendations are among the shocking discoveries revealed in the groundbreaking report, Operation Recovery: Fort Hood Soldiers and Veterans Testify on the Right to Heal (also referred to as the Fort Hood Testimony Report).

The report is the product of months of investigation and compilation by its authors: Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), Under the Hood Café and Resource Center, and Civilian Soldier Alliance. The National Lawyers Guild’s Military Law Task Force contributed legal support, analysis of regulations, and assistance in developing recommendations.

The report culminates three years of sustained outreach in the Fort Hood community, and contains in-depth testimony from 31 Ford Hood soldiers, veterans and family members. Additionally, it includes a series of findings and recommendations for the Fort Hood command and the Department of Defense. This report provides a snapshot in time of a military base at the height of the deployment cycle and during the recent drawdown, and it exposes the challenges that servicemembers face in a military that has been at war for more than a decade. While the report focuses on Fort Hood, it reflects problems endemic to the Army as a whole as well as to the other branches of the military.

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Ninth CIRCUIT COURT RULING: CONFRONTING MILITARISM BY USING EQUAL ACCESS TO HIGH SCHOOLS

When the military comes to your local high school, you have a legal right to give students an opposing view. This has been the position taken by federal district courts in Florida, Pennsylvania and Illinois and two federal appellate courts. The most broadly-worded decision came from a case that COMD took to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the 1980s. Here is the background:

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