Marine to be Discharged over Facebook Posts
US Marine Sgt. Gary Stein will reportedly be administratively separated with an “Other than Honorable” discharge as a result of his “political” Facebook activities:
The Commanding General for Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego…has approved the board’s recommendation that Sgt. Stein be separated from the Marine Corps with an “other than honorable” discharge.
The Sgt’s case is so high profile the Marines took the unusual step of publishing a press release just on the General’s decision. It also noted the OTH discharge is used when
the basis for separation is the commission of a serious offense which is a significant departure from the conduct expected of a Marine.
Some press reports have noted the OTH status of his departure from the military will make him ineligible for veterans’ benefits. In fact, it is a mark that will follow him for the rest of his life, and could even make getting a civilian job difficult.
On one hand, Sgt Stein claimed he was exercising his right to free speech; on the other, he said he carefully followed the rules given.
To the former, the US Supreme Court has recognized the military’s ability to restrict even the Constitutional rights of its members. (For comparison, see Goldman v Weinberger, in which a US military regulation prohibiting a Jewish yarmulke was upheld, and Rigdon v Perry, in which a policy restricting calls for political involvement by religious leaders in the military was struck down. Cases here.) While not without limitation, it seems reasonable the Supreme Court would uphold a military policy on speech restrictions.
To the latter issue on rules, there is room for some debate. Even the US Marine’s JAG has requested that policies be updated to reflect the realities of social media.
There is some indication the discharge may have temporarily been put on hold. In any case, it is likely Sgt Stein will eventually be a civilian. In some regard, he may ultimately be proven “right,” should the military update its policies to reflect the digital age. It is still unlikely, however, even that outcome would reverse his fortunes.
Why should the media matter? Disrespecting the president and saying you won’t obey his orders is improper whether verbally, on a bumper sticker, in a letter to the editor, or on a Facebook post. Content is the issue, not the medium through which it is expressed.
@BC
By one interpretation of the regulation, you might be right. By another, you may not be. That’s the problem.
Many people are simply assuming a member of the military may not make a political statement, which is untrue.
The medium is important because the regulations are written based on medium. They specifically call out letters to the editor as permissible, for example. The regs specifically say political bumper stickers are allowed — they don’t say what those bumper stickers are allowed to say.
“Disrespect” of the President is, surprisingly, not explicitly prohibited in the case of Sgt Stein. “Contemptuous words” are only prohibited by commissioned officers; Sgt Stein is not one. Arguably, expressing a political opinion — which could be construed as “disrespectful” in some context — is explicitly permitted, in some “media”. In fact, DODI 1344.10 says
Whether a “political statement” might be “disrespectful” is an interesting question not addressed by the regs.
The “not obeying orders” bit is perhaps the most interesting. Most reports seemed to indicate it occurred in the context of a comments section on Facebook. It was, in a manner of speaking, a “conversation.” Within that conversation, someone chided him on what he said, and he revised his comment. The UCMJ does not say that being inarticulate or misunderstood is punishable. If he had spoken those words rather than typed them, it would have been viewed as “poorly phrased,” not punitive.
The point here is not to argue his guilt or innocence. It is worth pointing out, as the Marine Corps JAG did, that current regulations on political activities and social media appear to be insufficient.
It’s also worth remembering the Marines reviewed his activities two years ago and did not take the opportunity to be more explicit than the current regs. They only told him to add a disclaimer.
If a Marine acts under the current guidance in good faith, yet is given an OTH discharge, there may be a problem.
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Good points. Thanks.