Lawyers for a group of active and retired military officers have applied to amend their lawsuit against the Air Force, asking a federal judge to declare the service’s new guidelines on religion unconstitutional.
Mikey Weinstein of Albuquerque, a graduate of the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, filed the lawsuit in October, claiming the academy was unconstitutionally imposing evangelical Christianity on cadets. Active-duty officers joined the lawsuit later.
The original lawsuit asked only that the court bar illegal proselytizing throughout the Air Force. The Air Force issued its religion guidelines last summer and amended them in February.
Weinstein and other critics contend the revised guidelines allow evangelicals to promote their religion and allow senior officers to influence the religious choices of subordinates.
“We will argue vigorously that the federal courts have not only the right but the responsibility to declare that the Air Force guidelines violate the U.S. Constitution,” said Sam Bregman, lead counsel for the veterans. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Albuquerque.
The latest filing also asks to add Air Force Master Sgt. Phillip Burleigh, an active-duty recruiter and a 24-year veteran, as a plaintiff.
Burleigh alleges he was asked by superiors to use Jesus Christ as a recruiting tool. The filing did not elaborate on how Burleigh was asked to do that.
Air Force spokeswoman Jennifer Stephens declined to comment on the latest filing.
The Air Force issued religion guidelines after Weinstein, a military retiree, and others complained that evangelicals were pushing their faith on others at the academy.
The original guidelines discouraged public prayer at official functions and urged commanders to be sensitive about personal expressions of religious faith. Chaplains were told to “respect the rights of others to their own religious beliefs, including the right to hold no beliefs.”
Last month, after conservative Christian groups and others lobbied the Bush administration, the guidelines were revised and dropped the admonition about respecting the rights of others. Top officers were no longer cautioned against promoting their personal religious views.
“With the addition of this new plaintiff we feel that lawsuit has been strengthened. This is not about political spectrum left or right. It is about what is constitutionally right or wrong,” said Weinstein.
