Kansas atheist soldier drops lawsuit / LJWorld.com

Archive for Saturday, October 11, 2008

By John Milburn - Associated Press Writer

October 11, 2008

Topeka — One of two atheist soldiers at Fort Riley who sued U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates over alleged violations of religious freedoms has dropped his case.

Attorneys for Pfc. Jeremy Hall and his co-plaintiff, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, filed notice Friday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., dismissing the lawsuit.

Hall plans to leave the Army next spring, and foundation President Mikey Weinstein said dropping the lawsuit avoids a fight over whether Hall has standing to sue if he is no longer in the Army.

But Weinstein said the foundation still will pursue its allegations of widespread religious discrimination within the military in a separate lawsuit it filed with a second soldier.

"He broke the barrier for us to have more people come forward," Weinstein said of Hall. "He served as a shining light that attracted all the other potential witnesses."

Spc. Dustin Chalker, a combat medic with an engineering battalion, filed suit in October naming Gates as the defendant.

Chalker, who has served in Iraq and Korea, alleges he was required to attend three events from December 2007 to May 2008 at Fort Riley in which Christian prayers were delivered.

Chalker's lawsuit alleges the military allows religious discrimination by fundamentalist Christians who try to force their views on others, especially subordinates. Its examples include programs for soldiers, presentations by "anti-Muslim activists" and a "spiritual handbook" for soldiers endorsed by Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East.

Defense officials have declined to comment on either lawsuit but have said the military has a longstanding policy against discrimination that preserves religious freedom for all in uniform. It also has said complaints about alleged religious discrimination are rare.

Hall and the foundation filed a lawsuit in September 2007, also naming Gates as a defendant, along with a major. Hall claimed the major prevented him from holding a meeting while deployed in Iraq, an allegation the officer denied.

Hall and the foundation withdrew the lawsuit and refiled it in March, adding claims that Hall was threatened with retaliation from other soldiers and officers, including the blocking of his promotion to sergeant.

Weinstein said Hall recently was transferred to another military police company and will be able to leave the Army as planned in 2009. Hall, 24, plans to go to college and serve as a liaison with the foundation on religious freedom issues.

Weinstein said Hall had endured numerous threats and mistreatment from fellow soldiers, including a death threat against him and his wife that was left on his telephone.

Fort Riley investigators traced the call to another soldier on post but said the threat wasn't serious and the soldier leaving it was intoxicated.

"His life has been a living hell. He's been mistreated and we will not forget any of that. He stood. He took it for everybody," Weinstein said.