COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Counter-Recruitment: General
Anti-War Judge Rejects Foster Teen's Bid to Join Marines
Fox News
March 07, 2008
A California judge rejected a foster teen's request for earlyenlistment with the Marine Corps and a $10,000 signing bonus
reportedly on the grounds that the judge didn't approve of the Iraq war.
Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Marilyn Mackel denied
17-year-old Shawn Sage's request to join the military last October,
according to a report in the Los Angeles Daily News.
"The judge said she didn't support the Iraq war for any reason we're
over there," Marine recruiter Sgt. Guillermo Medrano of the Simi
Valley U.S. Marine Corps recruiting office told the paper.
"She just said all recruiters were the same that they 'all tap
dance and tell me what I want to hear.' She said she didn't want him
to fight in it."
Sage, a Simi Valley, Calif., resident, begged the anti-war judge for
permission to join, according to the Daily News.
"Foster children shouldn't be denied [an] ability to enlist in the
service just because they're foster kids," Sage told the paper.
"Foster kids shouldn't have to go to court to gain approval to serve
one's country."
Sage plans to join the Marines when he turns 18 in June and his case
has prompted a Republican lawmaker to introduce a bill that would
allow foster teens to enlist in the military without the express
permission of a judge.
This archive consists of a topically organized selection of articles culled by members of the Counter-Recruitment List Serve from printed publications and web sites. The archive is not complete. We have chosen material relevant to the work of Eugene, Oregon’s Committee for Countering Military Recruitment that we think may be of use to others individuals and groups with similar goals.
Because our web site is public, personal comments about the articles and (frequent) corrections of reporters’ errors are also not included. If an article interests you, we encourage you to return to the Counter-Recruitment List Serve and put the article’s headline into the search line, which should bring up (often wise and useful) commentary and corrections. If you do not belong to the List Serve, it can be found at counter-recruitment@yahoogroups.com
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the articles on this site are posted without profit to those who have expressed prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposed.