Document Type
Article
Journal Title
Columbia Law Review
Volume
121
First Page
2203
Publication Date
12-2021
Abstract
Between 2011 and 2015, 57,141 soldiers, sailors, and airmen were separated from service with less-than-honorable (LTH) discharges for minor misconduct related to mental health problems. These discharges disproportionately affected servicemembers of color. These veterans and others like them face daunting reintegration challenges when they return to civilian society, as federal agencies and state governments deny them the benefits that usually facilitate a veteran’s smooth transition to civilian society. This Essay adds to the scholarly discourse on military discharges by comparing these veterans’ plight to that of persons arrested or convicted of criminal offenses, who also suffer from collateral consequences related to their criminal records long after their involvement with the criminal legal system. Military review boards, the Department of Defense (DOD) agencies charged with reviewing and correcting veterans’ discharges after service, were never intended to address the collateral consequences of military discharges, and the laws governing discharge review do not provide the boards with the authority to do so; however, DOD may finally be poised to institute reforms. This Essay responds to DOD’s recent call for the military service branches to consider the collateral consequences of military discharges in reviewing veterans’ petitions for discharge upgrades. This Essay examines why current laws and regulations are inadequate to implement DOD’s call and asserts that reform efforts aimed at addressing the collateral consequences of arrests and convictions in the criminal legal system must be replicated in the military. This Essay concludes that, without reform, a permanent class of dishonored veterans will never successfully reintegrate into society.
Recommended Citation
Hugh B. McClean,
Discharged and Discarded: The Collateral Consequences of a Less-Than-Honorable Discharge,
121
Columbia Law Review
2203
(2021).
Available at:
https://scholarworks.law.ubalt.edu/all_fac/1126