[ad_1]
File – This file of February 2, 1972 shows the project director, Curtis W. Tarr, spinning one of the two plexiglass drums in Washington at the time of the launch of the fourth annual selective service lottery. The chairman of a group to review the changes to the US military project said Monday, February 25, 2019 that his recommendations to Congress would not be influenced by the recent decision of a federal judge that the current system is unconstitutional, because it only applies to men. The army has recruited no one in its service for more than 40 years, but American men still have to register at 18 years old. Recent efforts to make registration mandatory for women have also sparked intense debate in Washington. (AP Photo / Charles W. Harrity, File)
AUSTIN, Texas – The chairman of a group to review the changes to the US military plan said Monday that his recommendations to Congress would not be influenced by the recent decision of a federal judge that the current system is unconstitutional because it applies only to men.
The army has recruited no one in its service for more than 40 years, but American men still have to register at 18 years old. Recent efforts to make registration mandatory for women have also sparked intense debate in Washington.
US District Judge Gray Miller said last Friday in the decision last Friday that he was unconstitutional in an all-male project, but he stopped ordering the government to make immediate changes. He added that the time to debate "the place of women in the armed forces" is over. Women now make up 20% of the air force, 19% of the navy, 15% of the army and 8.6% of the navies, according to Pentagon figures.
The Justice Department declined to comment Monday after losing the Houston case.
The decision comes as Congress waits for next year 's report from an 11 – member commission to study the issue of selective service. It is chaired by former Nevada representative Joe Heck, who personally supports that women are also required to sign up for the project.
Heck said the decision would not influence his report and would not precipitate any recommendations to Congress. He described a generational gap in the public comments that his commission collected on women and the project.
"If you talk to those who would be affected, that is, men and women aged 18 to 25, they will say," Yes, women should be registered. It's an issue of equality, "Heck said." If you talk to an older population, they're the ones who seem to be reluctant. "
The lawsuit in Texas was brought by the National Coalition for Men, a human rights group. The Department of Defense lifted the ban on women fighting in 2013 and Miller stopped ordering the government to take immediate action regarding the draft decision in its decision Friday night.
"In fact, I thought the judge did that to give them time because it was a major change," said Marc Angelucci, a lawyer for the men's group.
The last major decision regarding selective service was the US Supreme Court's 1981 ruling, which upheld the exclusion of women because they were not allowed to perform their duties at that time. -the.
Miller, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush in 2006, said this was no longer the case.
"While the historical restrictions imposed on women in the armed forces may have justified past discrimination, men and women are now" in a similar situation for the purpose of a project or registration. a project, "wrote Miller." If there was a time to discuss "the place of women in the armed forces", that time is up. "
___
Follow Paul J. Weber on Twitter: www.twitter.com/pauljweber
[ad_2]
Source link