Military Requests More Felony Waivers (AP)

[Eugene]

Military Requests More Felony Waivers
By LOLITA C. BALDOR
Associated Press Writer

February 13, 2007, 6:46 PM EST

WASHINGTON -- The Army and Marine Corps. are letting in more recruits with criminal
records, including some with felony convictions, reflecting the increased pressure
of five years of war and its mounting casualties.

According to data compiled by the Defense Department, the number of Army and Marine
recruits needing waivers for felonies and serious misdemeanors, including minor drug
offenses, has grown since 2003. And the Army granted more than double the number
of waivers for felonies and misdemeanors in 2006 than it did in 2003. Some recruits
may get more than one waiver.

The number of felony waivers granted by the Army grew from 411 in 2003 to 901 in 2006,
according to the Pentagon. Other misdemeanors, which could be petty theft, writing
a bad check or some assaults, jumped from about 2,700 to more than 6,000 in 2006.
The minor crimes represented more than three-quarters of the waivers granted by the
Army in 2006, up from more than half in 2003.

Army and Defense Department officials defended the waiver program as a way to admit
young people who may have made a mistake early in life but have overcome past behavior.
And they said about two-thirds of the waivers granted by the Marines are for drug use,
because they -- unlike the other services -- require a waiver if someone has been
convicted once for marijuana use.

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-military-recruits-waivers,0,7119893.story

[Lost-in-FL]

1. You mean more Republicans can now join??

Good for them!! :evilgrin:

[ninkasi]

2. Ok, waivers for felons

But hysteria at the thought that a gay man, or a lesbian, could serve the U.S. by joining the military. What absolutely screwed up priorities. I'm against war, period, but an citizen who truly wants to join should be able to do so regardless of their sexual identification.

[classysassy]

3. Open the prisons

or bring back the draft. Let those warloving rich brats put their protected asses in harms way.Watch the war come to a sudden stop.The words of cong.Ted Poe of texas"thats the way it is."