I was fortunate to work with a team of experienced military employment law practitioners and Military-Veterans Advocacy, Inc. in filing a brief of amicus curiae in a case pending before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Code v. Esper, No. 18-5122.
This is an important case. Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) personnel actively coordinated with the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) on specific contents of an advisory opinion that the Board then used as a basis to make unfavorable changes to the applicant’s record under the guise of “partial relief.” The ABCMR is touted as an independent, fair body that should not act as an extension of the military entity responsible for the error or injustice itself. Moreover, military records-correction boards can only make corrections that are favorable to an applicant—a rule that he ABCMR flagrantly contravened in this case. If the ABCMR is not rebuked for their behavior, a slippery slope could lead to applicants running the risk of incurring unforeseen, negative corrections to their records that leave them in a worse position than when they first applied to correct perceived errors or injustices.
The brief is available here.