“The Military & Veterans Equal Rights Protection
Act” - Short Title: V’ERPA Act
Purpose:
To reform the Feres
doctrine’s “incident to service” bar exempting subject matter jurisdiction of the United States District
Courts under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and its “redress of grievance” clause, and
the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) by restoring the initial intent and purpose of the “FTCA.” Further, to provide
“informed consent” and the “right to know” to prospective recruits at Military Entrance Processing
Stations (MEPS) of the Feres doctrine exemption under the “FTCA” prior to swearing out the oath
of office. Some stipulations in the V'ERPA Act will include, but are not limited to:
1. that, negligent acts or omissions under the FTCA are to be strictly resolved under
the provisions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). We believe, "neligence" per se is “dereliction
of duty” and this will ensure there is no detriment to the preservation of good order and discipline in the United
States Armed Forces;
2. that, the threshold for invoking
rights under this Bill must be based upon a clear showing or prima facie case of gross or criminal negligence and exhausting
all intra-military administrative remedies prior to petitioning the U.S. District Court for redress under the First Amendment
and FTCA;
3. that the exhausting of intra-military
or “administrative” remedies include first; reporting (“petitioning” or “petitioner”)
a gross negligent or criminal act to the commanding officer, second; if not action is taken by the commander a petition to
the Department of Defense (DoD) Inspector General under the provisions of the Inspector Generals Act (IG Act) is required.
Upon the findings and conclusions of the DoDIG’s inquiry or investigation if the petitioner is not satisfied; the final
avenue of review rests with the Secretary of Defense under the IG Act. If an arbitrary or capricious final decision
by SecDef is believed to be issued, the petitioner then has the right to file for declaratory, injunctive and damage relief
in any United States District Court, where personal and subject matter jurisdiction can be established under existing laws;
4. that, the purpose of this Bill is not to open the courthouse
doors to frivolous or detrimental to good order and discipline lawsuits. With today’s advanced technology, video testimony
and depositions can be taken around the world in a moments notice. Thus, the disruption of general operations of any military
command will not be injured;
5. that, this Bill
will cross-connect with existing processes under the Inspectors General Act (IG Act), Military Whistleblower Protection Act
(MWP Act) and laws governing the Armed Forces Disability Evaluation System (DES) and Board for Correction of Military Records
(BCMRs) statutory processes.[1]
Definitions
For the purposes of this Bill, the terms:
Negligence—is meant to mean “dereliction of duty.”
[1] This Bill will also rename the “Military Whistleblower Protection Act” to
remove the negative stigma of the term "whistleblower" to the “Military Integrity Protection Act”
or “MIP Act.”
Note: All proposed legislative
changes advanced by V'ERPA are Copyrighted in the interest of justice.
