The judges heard arguments in a dispute over a federal law passed in 1994 in the aftermath of the Gulf War to strengthen job protection for returnees. For more than 90 minutes, judges debated the Vietnam War, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Alexander Hamilton and even Hamilton, the musical, as they tried to determine whether states were protected from lawsuits by veterans who complained that their jobs are not protected. violation of federal law. At the heart of the matter is the power of Congress to wage war and the states’ assumptions that they did not have similar power, both set out in the Constitution. “We do not know what will happen in the next 50 years. “We do not know what will happen in the next 50 days in terms of national security and personnel,” said Judge Brett Kavanaugh. The court is examining the appeal of Le Roy Torres, who spent a year in Iraq and was fired as a captain after nearly 19 years in the US Army Reserve. Torres says he suffered lung damage from exposure to open burns at his base in Iraq. The state and Torres dispute what happened when he returned to Texas, unable to resume his work as a state soldier due to damage to his lungs. He eventually resigned and later filed his lawsuit. A state appellate court rejected it and the judges intervened. The Biden government supports Torres’ right to sue the state. The federal government, which also has the right to sue states by law, has only sued 109 times since 2004 and only twice since 2015, Justice Department attorney Christopher Michel said in response to a question from Judge Samuel Alito. But “the numbers are much higher when you look at how many soldiers’ claims have been successfully resolved” without going to court, Michelle said. The story goes on Fifteen other Republican-led states are calling on the court to uphold Texas and rule out private lawsuits such as Torres’. Congress first allowed returning service members to sue states to keep their jobs in 1974, recognizing discrimination because of opposition to the Vietnam War. “The Vietnam War is what made the statute necessary,” said Judge Sonia Sotomayor. And opposition to a future war could lead to a similar situation, said Judge Amy Coney Barrett. “Suppose we are involved in Ukraine and the states say we should not,” Barrett said. The debate briefly turned to the theater when Judge Stephen Breyer cited Hamilton’s “You’ll Be Back” to show that George Washington’s frustration with the states’ reluctance to pay for the Continental Army led to the creation of a national defense. “George III says, ‘They will return. Wait and you will see. “They will come dragging me back,” Breyer said, capturing the emotion but not the lyrics of the song. Just last week, the court allowed the Navy to consider the seafarers’ vaccination regime when deciding on missions, limiting a lower court ruling. Three judges, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas, disagreed with the Supreme Court ruling. Gorsuch and Thomas appeared the most receptive to Texas’ arguments Tuesday. “Maybe I’m not as in love with Hamilton as some people are,” Thomas said. Thomas was back in the distance on Tuesday after spending nearly a week in hospital for what the court described as an infection. The court has not clarified the nature of the infection and there has been no explanation as to why Thomas was not in the courtroom.
This story has been corrected to show the federal law passed in 1994 and not in 1991.
