The American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri announced today that its suit on behalf of an underage recruit has resulted in the Army voiding the enlistment and discharging the juvenile soldier. The ACLU-EM had filed the lawsuit against the United States Army on the grounds that both parents had not given their permission for her to enlist. Late yesterday a federal judge granted the ACLU's request to dismiss the case because the Army provided the relief sought.
“Military recruitment has become increasingly aggressive and is often unfair to targeted high schoolers,” says Brenda Jones, the ACLU-EM’s Executive Director. “Just last year, our national office issued a report detailing the need for the United States to bring its policies and practices on military recruitment in line with internationally accepted standards. The facts in this case are testimony to that need."
Hillary Poole was 17 years old when she was recruited in her high school. An Army recruiter later contacted Hillary’s mother and asked her to sign a document permitting an evaluation of her daughter. In actuality, the form gave permission for Hillary to enlist—permission requiring both parents’ consent when the recruit is less than 18 years of age. The recruiter directed the mother to sign her husband’s name to the form as well as her own so that, according to the recruiter, the father could be contacted in case of emergency.
When the Pooles realized what had happened and that they had been deceived, they took immediate steps to reverse the enlistment administratively. Army representatives told them that Hillary would be arrested if she did not report for duty, though in fact, under the Delayed Entry/Enlistment Program, before reporting for duty students can write the “Commander” at the recruiting station simply saying they have changed their mind.
Efforts to have Hillary discharged through the Army’s internal procedures failed when Army officials accepted the recruiter’s word that he had seen the father sign the document granting permission. With overseas deployment imminent for Poole, the ACLU-EM filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus on behalf of Poole and her parents in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. The suit, filed on July 24, 2009, alleged that Poole’s enlistment was void under federal statutes and Army regulations because she was a minor and enlisted without the consent of both parents. At an emergency hearing, the Army agreed to keep Poole in the United States until the case was resolved.
The Army administratively voided Poole’s enlistment after the ACLU-EM attorneys presented the officials with the findings of a handwriting expert who concluded that the purported signature on the permission form was indeed not the father’s. Hillary’s discharge was formally completed on August 18, 2009. “A little known provision in the No Child Left Behind statute gives the military the right to recruit in schools,” said Anthony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU-EM. “Students and parents need to know that that they can individually opt out of this program, denying recruiters access to students who have formally requested that they do not want to be contacted.”
The Poole family was represented in the case by ACLU-EM cooperating attorneys Michael A. Gross and Burton Newman in addition to ACLU-EM Legal Director Rothert.
Students and their parents can fill out a form and either bring it to the principal's office or send it in to the central administration of the school.