There have been developments in two arenas involving alleged religious discrimination in the U.S. Army. According to the AP, Attorneys for Pfc. Jeremy Hall filed a motion Friday in federal court in Kansas to dismiss Hall's suit against the military. The suit charged Hall was prevented from holding a meeting of atheist soldiers when he was deployed in Iraq. Hall plans to leave the Army next year, and this avoids litigation over Hall's standing to continue the suit. However a lawsuit filed in October by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation on behalf of Spc. Dustin Chalker raises related claims that soldiers were forced to attend events that featured Christian prayers. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]
Meanwhile, in an unrelated case, the AP reports that an Army trainee who physically attacked a Jewish soldier who was also in basic training at Ft. Benning will not face criminal charges. Instead he will face non-judicial punishment. The victim, Pvt. Michael Handman, and his family think the beating was motivated by anti-Semitism, since it came only a few days after Handman complained about anti-Semitic harassment by two drill sergeants. However Army investigators say the beating was not motivated by religious bigotry. (See prior related posting.)
