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New Discovery! 2023 Hottest in over 120 Million Years 2024 and beyond in prophecy Questions Status: Not Logged In; Sign In The Left's War On Christians See other The Left's War On Christians Articles Title: High military court will hear case of Marine punished for displaying Bible verse Source: Washington Times URL Source: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news ... e-punished-for-displaying-bib/ Published: Nov 29, 2015 Author: Kellan Howell Post Date: 2015-12-01 10:30:32 by redleghunter Ping List: *Religious History and Issues*     Subscribe to *Religious History and Issues* Keywords: None Views: 3156 Comments: 24 The highest U.S. military court will hear the case of a Marine who was punished for refusing to remove a Bible verse from her workstation. In May, 2013 then-Lance Cpl. Monifa Sterling kept a Bible verse on her computer in three places. The verses read "No weapon formed against me shall prosper," a modification of the Isaiah 54:17, according to the Catholic News Agency. Ms. Sterling's staff sergeant demanded she remove the verse, but Ms. Sterling refused, saying she had the right to express her religious freedom. The next day Ms. Sterling arrived to find the verses had been ripped down from her station. She put them up again. The cycle repeated until Ms. Sterling was court-martialed on Feb. 1, 2014. She was convicted of disrespecting a superior commissioned officer, failing to go to an appointed place of duty, and disobeying a lawful order on four separate occasions, The Daily Caller reported. Earlier this year, the U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals also sided against Ms. Sterling, saying significant damage could be caused by forcing military employees to be exposed to a religious quotation, CNA reported. Click for Full Text! Poster Comment: How such a situation got to the point of CM and appeals is amazing. Was there not just ONE leader in the Marine's chain of command who could have handled this situation better?Subscribe to *Religious History and Issues* Post Comment   Private Reply   Ignore Thread   Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 11. #11. To: redleghunter (#0) She did not raise the issue of RFRA until 15 months after the fact. She disobeyed direct lawful orders on multiple occasions, refusing to wear the uniform of the day, or to go to her designated duty area. United States v Sterling, 201400150 (NMCCA 2015) (26 Feb 2015) http://www.jag.navy.mil/courts/documents/archive/2015/STERLING-201400150-UNPUB.PDF [2] Background In May of 2013, the appellant’s duties included sitting at a desk and utilizing a computer to assist Marines experiencing issues with their Common Access Cards. The appellant printed three copies of the biblical quote “no weapon formed against me shall prosper” on paper in 28 point font or smaller. The appellant then cut the quotes to size and taped one along the top of the computer tower, one above the computer monitor on the desk, and one above the in-box. The appellant testified that she is a Christian and that she posted the quotation in three places to represent the Christian trinity. At trial, the parties referred to these pieces of paper as “signs.” The signs were large enough for those walking by her desk to read them. - - - - - - - - - - [3] On or about 20 May 2013, Staff Sergeant (SSgt) Alexander ordered the appellant to remove the signs. The appellant refused and the SSgt removed them herself. The next day, the SSgt saw the signs had been replaced and again ordered the appellant to remove them. When the signs had not been removed by the end of the day, SSgt Alexander again removed them herself. In August of 2013, the appellant was on limited duty for a hip injury and wore a back brace and TENS unit during working hours.3 The medical documentation (chit) included a handwritten note stating that “[w]earing charlies & TENS unit4 will be difficult, consider allowing her to not wear charlies.”5 The uniform of the day on Fridays for the appellant’s command was the service “C” uniform and when the appellant arrived at work on a Friday in her camouflage utility uniform, SSgt Morris ordered her to change into service “C” uniform. The appellant refused, claiming her medical chit exempted her from the uniform requirement. After speaking with medical, SSgt Morris again ordered the appellant to change into the service “C” uniform. The appellant again refused. SSgt Morris then brought the appellant to First Sergeant (1stSgt) Robinson who repeated the order. Again, the appellant refused. On 12 September 2013, 1stSgt Robinson ordered the appellant to report to the Pass and Identification building at the front gate on Sunday, 15 September 2013, from 1600 until approximately 1930 to help distribute vehicle passes to family members of returning deployed service members. This was a duty the appellant had performed before. The appellant refused, showing 1stSgt Robinson a separate medical chit that she had been provided to treat a “stress reaction.” This chit recommended that the appellant be exempted from standing watch and performing guard duty.6 Additionally, on 03 September 2013, the appellant was prescribed a medication to help prevent the onset of migraine headaches.7 On 13 Sept 2013, the appellant was ordered to report to Major (Maj) Flatley. When she did so, Maj Flatley ordered the _____ 3 TENS refers to a small machine that transmits pulses to the surface of the skin and along nerve strands. 4 “Charlies” refers to the Marine service “C” uniform. 5 Defense Exhibit B. 6 DE A. 7 Appellate Exhibit XXXIX. - - - - - - - - - - [4] appellant to report to Pass and Identification on 15 September 2103 to issue vehicle passes and ordered her to take the passes with her. The appellant told Maj Flatley that she would not comply with the order to report and refused to accept the passes. On 15 September 2013, the appellant did not report as ordered. Additional facts necessary for the resolution of each assignment of error are developed below. - - - - - [8] Personal beliefs, grounded solely upon subjective ideas about religious practices, “will not suffice” because courts need some reference point to assess whether the practice is indeed religious. See Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205, 215-16 (1972) (recognizing for purposes of a First Amendment inquiry that individuals are not free to define religious beliefs solely based upon individual preference). For these reasons, we reject the appellant’s invitation to define “religious exercise” as any - - - - - - - - - - [9] action subjectively believed by the appellant to be “religious in nature.”16 Here, the appellant taped a biblical quotation in three places around her workstation, organized in a fashion to “represent the trinity.” While her explanation at trial may invoke religion, there is no evidence that posting signs at her workstation was an “exercise” of that religion in the sense that such action was “part of a system of religious belief.” Indeed, the appellant never told her SSgt that the signs had a religious connotation and never requested any religious accommodation to enable her to display the signs.17 Instead, the record supports the conclusion that the appellant was simply placing what she believed to be personal reminders that those she considered adversaries could not harm her. Such action does not trigger the RFRA. _____ 16 Appellant’s Brief of 8 Aug 2014 at 26. 17 Secretary of the Navy Instruction 1730.8B (Ch. 1, 28 Mar 2012) regulates the accommodation of religious practices in the Department of the Navy and requires requests for religious accommodations be submitted in writing to the command. We leave for another day what impact, if any, the failure to first request an accommodation will have on the lawfulness of an order to refrain from engaging in one. - - - - - - - - - - [8] Personal beliefs, grounded solely upon subjective ideas about religious practices, “will not suffice” because courts need some reference point to assess whether the practice is indeed religious. See Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205, 215-16 (1972) (recognizing for purposes of a First Amendment inquiry that individuals are not free to define religious beliefs solely based upon individual preference). For these reasons, we reject the appellant’s invitation to define “religious exercise” as any - - - - - - - - - - [9] action subjectively believed by the appellant to be “religious in nature.”16 Here, the appellant taped a biblical quotation in three places around her workstation, organized in a fashion to “represent the trinity.” While her explanation at trial may invoke religion, there is no evidence that posting signs at her workstation was an “exercise” of that religion in the sense that such action was “part of a system of religious belief.” Indeed, the appellant never told her SSgt that the signs had a religious connotation and never requested any religious accommodation to enable her to display the signs.17 Instead, the record supports the conclusion that the appellant was simply placing what she believed to be personal reminders that those she considered adversaries could not harm her. Such action does not trigger the RFRA. Valid Military Purpose The appellant also argues that the military judge erred by finding the orders to remove the signs had a valid military purpose. Military orders are presumed to be lawful and are disobeyed at the subordinate’s peril. MANUAL FOR COURTS-MARTIAL, UNITED STATES (2012 ed.), Part IV, ¶ 14c(1)(d)(2)(a)(i). To sustain the presumption of lawfulness, “‘the order must relate to military duty, which includes all activities reasonably necessary to accomplish a military mission, or safeguard or promote the morale, discipline, and usefulness of members of a command and directly connected with the maintenance of good order in the service.’” United States v. Moore, 58 M.J. 466, 467-68 (C.A.A.F. 2003) (quoting MCM, Part IV, ¶ 14c(2)(a)(iii)). To be lawful, an order must (1) have a valid military purpose, and (2) be clear, specific, and narrowly drawn. Id. at 468; United States v. Womack, 29 M.J. 88, 90 (C.M.A. 1989). The lawfulness of an order is a legal question for the military judge to decide at trial, New, 55 M.J. at 105, and this court reviews the trial judge's decision de novo, Moore, 58 M.J. at 467. _____ 16 Appellant’s Brief of 8 Aug 2014 at 26. 17 Secretary of the Navy Instruction 1730.8B (Ch. 1, 28 Mar 2012) regulates the accommodation of religious practices in the Department of the Navy and requires requests for religious accommodations be submitted in writing to the command. We leave for another day what impact, if any, the failure to first request an accommodation will have on the lawfulness of an order to refrain from engaging in one. - - - - - - - - - - [10] After receiving evidence and hearing argument, the military judge found that the “orders were given because the workspace in which the accused placed the signs was shared by at least one other person[,] [t]hat other service members came to the accused’s workspace for assistance at which time they could have seen the signs. The court also finds that the signs, although the verbiage . . . [was] biblical in nature, read something to the effect of no weapon found [sic] against me shall prosper ... which could easily be seen as contrary to good order and discipline.”18 Although these meager findings of fact fail to illuminate why the military judge believed the signs verbiage “could easily be seen as contrary to good order and discipline[,]” we are able to glean from the record sufficient information to affirm his ruling. First, the military judge found that the signs verbiage was biblical in nature, that the desk was shared with another Marine, and the signs were visible to other Marines who came to the appellant’s desk for assistance. The implication is clear—the junior Marine sharing the desk and the other Marines coming to the desk for assistance would be exposed to biblical quotations in the military workplace. It is not hard to imagine the divisive impact to good order and discipline that may result when a service member is compelled to work at a government desk festooned with religious quotations, especially if that service member does not share that religion. The risk that such exposure could impact the morale or discipline of the command is not slight. Maintaining discipline and morale in the military work center could very well require that the work center remain relatively free of divisive or contentious issues such as personal beliefs, religion, politics, etc., and a command may act preemptively to prevent this detrimental effect. To the extent that is what the military judge determined to be the case, we concur.19 _____ 18 Record at 362. 19 We are sensitive to the possible implication that such orders may have on the service member’s Free Exercise and Free Speech rights under the First Amendment to the Constitution and we have carefully considered the appellant’s rights thereunder. While not convinced that displaying religious text at a shared government workstation would be protected even in a civilian federal workplace (see e.g. Berry v. Dep't of Soc. Servs., 447 F.3d 642 (9th Cir. 2006) (holding that a state may prohibit an employee from posting religious signs in his workspace when clients routinely entered that workspace for purposes of consulting with an agent of the state), it is well-settled that “review of military regulations challenged on First Amendment grounds is far more deferential than constitutional review of similar laws or regulations designed for civilian society[,]” Goldman v. Weinberger, 475 U.S. - - - - - - - - - - [11] Second, examination of this record indicates the existence of a contentious relationship between the appellant and her command, even prior to the charged misconduct. In fact, the appellant testified that her purpose for placing the signs was to encourage her during those difficult times and that her SSgt ordered her to remove the signs because the SSgt didn’t “like their tone.”20 While locked in an antagonistic relationship with her superiors--a relationship surely visible to other Marines in the unit--placing visual reminders at her shared workspace that “no weapon formed against me shall prosper” could certainly undercut good order and discipline. When considered in context, we find that the verbiage in these signs could be interpreted as combative and agree with the military judge that the signs placement in the shared workspace could therefore “easily be seen as contrary to good order and discipline.”21 For this reason as well, the orders to remove the signs were lawful. _____ 503, 507 (1986). See also, United States v. Brown, 45 M.J. 389, 396 (C.A.A.F. 1996) (“the right of free speech in the armed services . . . must be brought into balance with the paramount consideration of providing an effective fighting force for the defense of our Country.”). Moreover, in Parker v. Levy, 417 U.S. 733, 759 (1974), the Supreme Court held the military may restrict the service member's right to free speech in peace time because speech may “undermine the effectiveness of response to command.” We apply these principles here and remain satisfied that the orders were lawful. 20 Record at 312. 21 Id. at 362. nolu chan  posted on  2015-12-01   20:25:47 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply   Replies to Comment # 11. #19. To: nolu chan (#11) Great run down. Seems her actions did not help her much. I know an understatement. redleghunter  posted on  2015-12-02 02:59:41 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply   End Trace Mode for Comment # 11. Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest

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