April 20, 2010 12:40:00 AM CDT by Slava Kuperstein
Aspiring rappers should take note - lyrics can carry consequences.
On December 17, 2009 US Army Spc. Marc Hall was jailed for writing a rap song about the affect of being forced to remain in the military longer than his contract stipulated - a result of the US military's stop-loss policy.
Four months later, Spc. Hall was granted a discharge from the military, when he was released on Sunday (April 18) morning.
According to globalresearch.ca, stop-loos is "is a practice that allows the Army to keep soldiers active beyond the end of their signed contracts. According to the Pentagon, more than 120,000 soldiers have been affected by stop-loss since 2001, and currently 13,000 soldiers are serving under stop-loss orders, despite public pledges by President Barack Obama to phase out the policy."
Due to threats of violence in his lyrics, Hall was charged with five specifications in violation of Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Conduct. In his lyrics, Hall rapped that he may "go Fort Hood," referencing the mass shooting at Fort Hood on November 5.
Hall explained that he was expressing his frustration about "how people feel about the Army and its stop-loss policy. I explained that the song was neither a physical threat nor any threat whatsoever. I told him it was just Hip Hop."
Hall's civilian attorney, David Gespass, is of the opinion that the military's decision to ship Hall to Kuwait to be court-martialed was extreme. "Not just the Constitution, but the rules for courts-martial, prohibit prosecutors from holding a court-martial in a combat zone as a pretext for depriving an accused of a public trial, counsel of his choice and necessary witnesses," explained Gespass.
"While I’m gratified that the Army finally decided to discharge Marc, I’m appalled at the disregard it has shown for Marc’s well-being and fundamental rights for nine months," said Gespass in a press release. "Whatever lip service the Army gives to its concern for its soldiers, its only real concern is insuring they risk their lives without questioning why. Marc's greatest transgression was asking that question."
According to Jeff Paterson of Courage to Resist, an Oakland-based organization dedicated to supporting military objectors like Hall, he was jailed "in retaliation for his formal complaint of inadequate mental health services available to him at Fort Stewart. The Army used an angry song that Spc. Hall, a combat veteran of the Iraq War suffering from post-traumatic stress, had produced criticizing the stop-loss policy as the pretext."
As for the discharge, Gespass is simply happy that his client is a free man. "We are very, very happy with the outcome, and I think there’s a good chance we can get him benefits for military related disabilities and we can upgrade the discharge, which is the thing I plan on working on next."
More on this story as it develops.
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